Every day, more Americans get trapped by big government. In addition to groups targeted by the IRS, upstanding citizens going about their normal lives are suddenly targeted by law enforcement authorities and charged as criminals. Just a few examples: A young girl was fined $535… for rescuing a wounded woodpecker. …
Krister Evertson is the kind of person all good conservationists should honor. He spent his life’s work in pursuit of an economical, clean-energy fuel cell that could generate power without polluting the air. However, that endeavor lead to two prosecutions and 13 months in federal prison. To help fund his …
Almost two years after Gibson Guitars was raided for violating an obscure law, Representative Marsha Blackburn (R–TN) is demanding a full explanation: The recent scandals surrounding this administration raise a number of questions about who they choose to target and why. The arrogance and lack of transparency displayed by this …
Just in case you weren’t convinced that overcriminalization is giving good kids criminal records, an Eagle Scout (the highest rank in the Boy Scout organization) is being charged with a felony for an honest mistake. David “Cole” Withrow, a North Carolina high school senior, is an Eagle Scout, an honor …
Sixteen-year-old Kiera Wilmot, described by her principal as “a good kid,” had good grades and had never been in trouble at school—let alone with the law. Now she is facing felony charges for a “science experiment gone wrong.” Kiera mixed household chemicals in an eight-ounce water bottle at school. The …
On Tuesday, Congress took a definite step in the right direction toward addressing the serious problem of overcriminalization by announcing the creation of a bipartisan House Committee on the Judiciary Over-Criminalization Task Force of 2013. The task force, which will be chaired by Representative James Sensenbrenner (R–WI), will consist of …
A Long Island man is facing 30 days in jail for laughing in his own home, according to The Huffington Post. Forty-two-year-old Robert Schiavelli, who suffers from a mental disability, was cited twice for “disturbing the peace” due to his loud laughter. What was he laughing at? Allegedly, Schiavelli’s neighbor …
Last week, a ten-year-old Alexandria, Virginia, boy was arrested and charged with brandishing a weapon, according to The Washington Examiner. This is a very serious charge that will stick with the boy. The “weapon” that the fifth-grader brought to school was a plastic toy gun with a bright orange cap …
The next time a cashier asks “paper or plastic?” think of Abbie Schoenwetter. He spent more than six years in federal confinement for shipping lobster in plastic instead of cardboard. There’s no American law against doing so. But thanks to a vague, overly broad, and otherwise unjust federal criminal law, …
