Monday, July 27, 2009
You're probably a criminal
At the Volokh Conspiracy, a blog on legal issues, Ilya Somin points out that "The vast scope of federal criminal law is a very serious problem", because people who haven't caused any harm to life, health or property can be subject to criminal charges. Since so many people are potential criminals, prosecutors will have to use their discretion in deciding which cases to pursue--and generally it's going to end up being the politically weak who suffer from that.
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Most civil servants are either dedicated (and trying to do the right thing in terms of their job responsibilities and their responsibility to the law and the taxpayer). Some are apathetic. The system acts as a large and heavy boat anchor to dedicated public servants.
That said, the problem with a large legal infrastructure with extensive reach is that it enables the small percentage of actual miscreants to do much, much more damage.
The State, as an actor, has no particular benevolence. Some of its employees do and sometimes they can show this with their discretionary powers. However, you don't want to be the one who runs afoul of the bad apple with the discretionary powers. The only protection I've seen that works in the long run here is not to have the State enabled with such wide-ranging powers.
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