I was watching book TV last night and happened to see a talk by Healy on his new book "Go Directly to Jail". You have been talking about fascism in America- I think Healy's book gives you a great deal of support. Healy argues that the amazing proliferation of Federal crimes (the exact number of which is unknown- but is something like 40k) makes everyone in the US pretty much fair game for arrest, and the discretion of whom to target is in the discretion of prosecutors. He began with discussing Martha Stewart- and her arrest, NOT for insider trading (which she was not prosecuted for, because the case was too weak) but for saying she wasn't guilty, of something which was not even prosecutable. So what has happened is that saying you are innocent of something, when that something is not crime, is in itself a crime- sounds like a quick step to fascism to me.
He gave many other examples of amazing cases- and stupid federal laws (you can get 6 months in jail for falsely claiming to be a 4h member, and one year for transporting unregistered dentures over state lines.)
Now WHY do all these 40k things need to be federal crimes? The better to throw the populace in jail.
Those folks to the right of the political spectrum, so intrigued by the prospect of freedom in Iraq, would do better to militate for freedom a little closer to home, imo. Where the federal government is such an active and aggressive jailer, no one is very free. The framers included treason, counterfeiting, and piracy as the only national crimes the feds should be going after.
Healy gave several examples of people doing federal time, for the stupidest reasons.
Lobster importers serving 8 year prison terms for importing undersize lobsters- under a fed bill that makes it a crime to important foods in violation of the laws of ANY country. In this case the Us thought the lobsters were under size by Honduran law. However, Honduras filed an amicus brief for the defendants stating the the US was incorrect about Honduran law - do you think the defendants won? No. Why are we clogging federal jails with lobster importers?
Here's an even more egregious example.
A school teacher takes a cruise to Mexico. When the boat returns she gets a knock on the door of her cabin. It's the police. They throw her in handcuffs and drag her off to prison, where she is thrown in with the general population. 7 hours later at a hearing we find out what her "crime" is. The previous summer visiting Yellowstone, she left a bag of marshmallows out on a table- and was fined. Even though she paid the fine, a records screw up made it seem she had not- and a bench warrant was issued for her arrest. When she returned from her cruise the warrant was triggered. Did the prosecutor get down on his knees and apologize sincerely for this abuse of fed power? Not likely, he told the judge that because of the irregularities they should keep her for trial.
The judge (to his credit, Mr. Healy says) told the prosecutor that he thought 7 hours in a federal facility was more than enough punishment for leaving out a bag of marshmallows.
Where so many innocent civilians can have their actions cast as criminal by the state, that is "Oppressive, dictatorial control" and what's more it is arbitrarily exercised. When everyone is a criminal the feds then have the discretion to go after the people they want to "get" rather than the crimes they really should be targeting (and in the feds case that ought to be treason, piracy and counterfeiting). I'd rather have murderers in jail, and see lobster importers pursued in civil court- but that's me. I don't find fascism, prosecutorial rule, and arbitrary law enforcement very appealing. |
