The Plague of Overcriminalization

[JCliff]

More good reading. Another excellent article on NRO by George F. Will, on the police state we are steadily assembling in this country. He highlights a central point: "Overcriminalization has become a national plague. And when more and more behaviors are criminalized, there are more and more occasions for police, who embody the state’s monopoly on legitimate violence, and who fully participate in humanity’s flaws, to make mistakes." Another excellent observation, made by Professor Stephen L. Carter of Yale Law School (quoted by Mr. Will): "It’s unlikely that the New York Legislature, in creating the crime of selling untaxed cigarettes, imagined that anyone would die for violating it. But a wise legislator would give the matter some thought before creating a crime. Officials who fail to take into account the obvious fact that the laws they’re so eager to pass will be enforced at the point of a gun cannot fairly be described as public servants."
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The Plague of Overcriminalization | National Review Online

 

[MI .45]

Overarching law naturally have unintended consequences and Eric Garner is just one of it's latest victims. With flawed humans enforcing flawed laws (and far too many of them), Americans will be more and more likely to be on the receiving end of aberrant enforcement, unwarranted arrest, and at the mercy of the justice system casino. Increasingly, LE is taking the "all contacts are threats" approach to any interaction and as the public increasingly perceives the potential for LEO violence for any possible infraction, this becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. Not only are we living in a police state, citizens are likewise being corralled into an edict ridden hell.