Criminal laws are out of control. This was the point made clear by the panelists on “Criminal Justice Reform: Too Many Crimes, Too Many Criminals.” Americans have to be proactive in combating ridiculous laws that threaten to strip them of their rights.
An example of out of control laws was the recent crackdown on Gibson guitars. Armed federal agents raided Gibson guitar factories when it was discovered that Gibson guitars were finishing wood imported from India, in violation of Indian laws. This, according to federal agents, was a crime that was justifiable with the seizure of guitars and threats of jail time for Gibson employees, simply for selling guitars made with wood that the Indian government approved of shipping. Civil disputes are now being turned into criminal acts, and this is a sign that the government is doing all they can to imprison citizens and remove their rights.
“It used to be that criminal law required malicious intent,” said Pat Nolan, Vice President of Prison Fellowship. Now, criminal offenses are a strict liability—a person does not have to actually mean to break a law to be thrown in jail.
Eli Lehrer from Right on Crime spoke of a lobsterman who currently sits in federal prison after violating the Lacey Act, an act that prohibits the violation of foreign laws regarding seafood regulations. The lobsterman imported lobsters that were an inch short of Honduran regulations. There has been “an explosion of criminalization,” which gives the federal government more power to imprison its citizens. The government, for example, has seven laws regarding oysters.
Conservatives should be skeptical in attempts to make a new crime, and conservatives should not be afraid of repealing bad laws, especially older laws that are not actually used.
“The mark of tyranny is where everything is criminal, and your friends don’t go to jail,” said David Keene, former ACU chairman. “The people who send people to the electric chair are the same people who run the post office.” Keene also attacked carjacking laws, saying that it was an unnecessary statute because kidnapping and stealing things are already crimes. Conservatives need to battle against unnecessary laws, as we are all truly endangered by the expansion of criminal laws. Our freedom depends upon it.
