Re:Rand Paul introduces bill to reform civil asset forfeiture
by nickff on Sunday July 27, 2014 @02:53PM
(#8093605)
"Three Felonies a Day" is a recent book which addresses this issue, and how the average adult in the United States commits three crimes which carry at least the possibility of jail time per day (on average).[1] There are tens of thousands of these offenses, and it is impossible to know all which may apply to you; even if a citizen makes an affirmative action to learn, there is no comprehensive list. Even more troubling is that many of these vague, and hard-to-find crimes do not require mens rea.
[1] http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405274870447150...
Re:Rand Paul introduces bill to reform civil asset forfeiture
by duskwuff on Sunday July 27, 2014 @08:13PM
(#8094446)
There's reason to believe that book is seriously exaggerating matters. Read the analysis at:
http://skeptics.stackexchange.com/q/22530
TL;DR: the examples available in the Amazon excerpts from that book are all felonies which the "average adult" would not be involved in, certainly not multiple times a day. (Unless you lead a very eventful life.)
For more, see "No One Is Innocent": http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2013/06/no-... . I think this part is particularly relevant:
Remember, under the common law, mens rea, criminal intent, was a standard requirement for criminal prosecution but today that is typically no longer the case especially under federal criminal law.
Everyone intuitively knows that you shouldn't hit, kill, or rob someone else, but there are now innumerable nominal "crimes" that are neither obvious nor intuitive.