Watchdog: Uncivilized Michigan has too many crimes on the books [makes it easier to place more non-whites in greater confinement]
/At some point, we've all said, "there ought to be a law". Well, under a current trend, there probably already is a law and the penalties for violating them are becoming increasingly harsh. Things are being defined as crimes leading to jail instead of fines or other penalties. Because of the speed such new laws are being passed, there's no way to keep track of them. Some legal experts say, as a result, everyone in this country breaks the law at least once a day.
On a broader scale, the Heritage Foundationis concerned that we have become a culture that prefers to use criminal law rather than civil law to solve problems, punish mistakes and compel compliance with government regulations. It happens on the federal level and state level. According to a joint report by both the Manhattan Institute and Michigan's own Mackinac Center for Public Policy, our state stands heads and shoulders among other states for overcriminalization.
State lawmakers passed 116 new crimes in Michigan last year and 45 new crimes each of the last six years. But we're not talking about violent crimes or even those necessarily involving public safety. Many of the new laws criminalize violations of business, agricultural or environmental regulations. There are about 3,100 criminal laws on the books in Michigan but that number doesn't take into account all the regulatory crimes people can commit in the administrative code.
Cooley Law School's Devin Schindler says it's a terrible trend. He says we are criminalizing so many activities that the line between innocent and criminal activity is very blurred. We are a nation that incarcerates more people than any other, putting people there for increasingly questionable but legal reasons. Schindler says it can be for the most inadvertent things, it could be for things that you are actually trying to be helpful. One such case involved voluntary babysitting. [MORE]
