In case you had any doubts about whether Washington bureaucrats were completely out of touch with ordinary Americans, the Environmental Protection Agency is here to reassure you—they are. While Americans across the country have been tightening their belts and dealing with a wave of new taxes, fees, and regulations, the EPA has launched a video contest to celebrate their brand of over-regulation. They are offering $2,500 to whomever puts together the best video lauding the merits of regulation in American life.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on Over-Criminalization of Conduct/Over-Federalization of Criminal Law. Heritage fellow Brian Walsh wrote at the time: We should applaud Reps. Bobby Scott (D-VA) and Louie Gohmert (R-TX) for holding a bipartisan hearing today to examine how federal law can make a criminal out of anyone, for even the most mundane conduct. Federal law in particular now criminalizes entire categories of activities that the average person would never dream would land him in prison. … Consider small-time inventor and entrepreneur Krister Evertson, who …
In the 1,528 days that Parliament was in session while Tony Blair was Prime Minister 3,203 new offenses were added to British law … roughly two new crimes every day. In a Heritage Foundation lecture late last year Snaresbrook Crown Court Judge Inigo Bing listed just some of the effects of this over criminalization: It undermines the authority of the law, it can be a facile and superficial response to deep-seated social problems, and it can be over-complex and susceptible to misinterpretation by judges. This last feature can undermine public …
