Rightguide
Prof Triggernometry
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2017
- Posts
- 66,985
Crime
May 15, 2025
A new executive order targets hidden criminal laws and restores basic due process to federal enforcement.
https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Image-for-The-Federalist-from-Kylee-200x200.jpeg
Laura Powell
More Articles
The order accomplishes two key reforms. First, it limits criminal enforcement to cases in which a person knowingly violates a regulation, discouraging the use of “strict liability,” which bypasses the traditional requirement of criminal intent. Second, it compels federal agencies to publicly identify every regulation they enforce with criminal penalties, along with the statutory authority and mental state required for conviction. That such basic transparency has never been required is an indictment of how far the system has drifted from constitutional norms.
To appreciate how far we’ve strayed, consider the founding era. Originally, Congress held exclusive authority to define federal crimes, and those crimes were few in number, targeting only existential threats to the republic, such as treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. These laws were clear, deliberate, and rooted in the principle that punishment required both wrongful conduct and a guilty mind.
Today, by contrast, legal scholars cannot even agree on how many federal crimes exist. The Code of Federal Regulations spans more than 175,000 pages, burying countless criminal provisions deep within bureaucratic text. A 2022 algorithmic study estimated that the U.S. Code alone contains more than 5,000 federal crimes, and when regulatory offenses are included, the number may reach into the hundreds of thousands. As law professor Jonathan Turley recently testified before Congress, we may now need artificial intelligence just to identify all the crimes on the books. That is not hyperbole — it is a measure of how disconnected federal criminal law has become from the rule of law.
More here: https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/1...for-crimes-you-didnt-even-know-you-committed/
Time to defend the "due Process" of American citizens.
Trump’s Latest Order Could Keep You Out Of Prison For Crimes You Didn’t Even Know You Committed
By: Laura PowellMay 15, 2025
A new executive order targets hidden criminal laws and restores basic due process to federal enforcement.
https://thefederalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Image-for-The-Federalist-from-Kylee-200x200.jpeg
Laura Powell
More Articles
Share
- Share Article on Facebook
- Share Article on Twitter
- Share Article on Truth Social
- Copy Article Link
- Share Article via Email
The order accomplishes two key reforms. First, it limits criminal enforcement to cases in which a person knowingly violates a regulation, discouraging the use of “strict liability,” which bypasses the traditional requirement of criminal intent. Second, it compels federal agencies to publicly identify every regulation they enforce with criminal penalties, along with the statutory authority and mental state required for conviction. That such basic transparency has never been required is an indictment of how far the system has drifted from constitutional norms.
To appreciate how far we’ve strayed, consider the founding era. Originally, Congress held exclusive authority to define federal crimes, and those crimes were few in number, targeting only existential threats to the republic, such as treason, piracy, and counterfeiting. These laws were clear, deliberate, and rooted in the principle that punishment required both wrongful conduct and a guilty mind.
Today, by contrast, legal scholars cannot even agree on how many federal crimes exist. The Code of Federal Regulations spans more than 175,000 pages, burying countless criminal provisions deep within bureaucratic text. A 2022 algorithmic study estimated that the U.S. Code alone contains more than 5,000 federal crimes, and when regulatory offenses are included, the number may reach into the hundreds of thousands. As law professor Jonathan Turley recently testified before Congress, we may now need artificial intelligence just to identify all the crimes on the books. That is not hyperbole — it is a measure of how disconnected federal criminal law has become from the rule of law.
More here: https://thefederalist.com/2025/05/1...for-crimes-you-didnt-even-know-you-committed/
Time to defend the "due Process" of American citizens.
