Trump strikes a righteous blow at feds’ rabid criminal code
Mountain runner Michelino Sunseri made headlines last fall when he set a record for ascending and descending Grand Teton in record time. His sponsor, The North Face, celebrated his achievement as “an impossible dream come true.” However, Sunseri soon found himself facing a nightmare as federal prosecutors charged him with a misdemeanor for using a trail that the National Park Service had deemed closed, despite not clearly informing the public of this designation.
This incident sheds light on the vast and obscure body of federal regulations that carry criminal penalties. President Donald Trump recently issued an executive order to address the injustices caused by the proliferation of agency-defined crimes, which have turned the rule of law into a cruel joke. The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections spread across 175,000 pages, making it impossible for any citizen to fully understand it. Many of these regulations carry potential criminal penalties for violations.
Estimates suggest that at least 300,000 federal agency regulations carry criminal sanctions, outnumbering statutory crimes by a factor of roughly 60 to 1. This situation arises when unaccountable bureaucrats are free to invent crimes, leading to a system where regulatory crimes outweigh statutory crimes at the federal level.
Trump’s executive order aims to address this issue by instructing federal agencies to explicitly describe conduct subject to criminal punishment under new regulations and prepare lists of regulatory violations that can be treated as crimes. However, given the volume and range of federal regulations, this task is daunting.
The complexity of regulatory crimes makes it difficult for the average American to navigate the legal landscape. With many regulatory offenses being strict liability offenses, citizens can be convicted of a crime without a guilty mental state. This unjust system allows the executive branch to both write and execute the law.
To tackle this problem, legal experts suggest eliminating excess federal crimes, adding mens rea requirements to provisions lacking them, and recognizing a defense for individuals who were unaware that their conduct was unlawful. Overcriminalization makes a mockery of the notion that “ignorance of the law is no excuse.”
In conclusion, the issue of regulatory crimes is a complex and challenging one that requires careful consideration and reform. By addressing the root causes of overcriminalization, the legal system can become more just and accessible to all individuals.
