[DOWNLOAD] "What You Don't Know can Hurt You: The Peril of Vague Criminal Statutes" by Reason # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free

April 02, 2021

eBook details

Title: What You Don't Know can Hurt You: The Peril of Vague Criminal Statutes
Author : Reason
Release Date : January 01, 2011
Genre: Reference,Books,Religion & Spirituality,
Pages : * pages
Size : 54 KB

Description

THE SOVIET UNION enacted an infamous law in 1922 that criminalized "hooliganism." The crime was in the eye of the beholder, the beholder of consequence being the Soviet secret police. Because it was impossible for dissidents to know in advance whether they were violating this prohibition, they were always subject to arrest and imprisonment, all ostensibly according to law. In the United States, we have legal safeguards against Soviet-style social controls, not least of which is the judicial branch's ability to nullify laws so vague that they violate the right to due process. Yet far too many federal laws leave citizens unsure about the line between legal and illegal conduct, punishing incorrect guesses with imprisonment. The average working American adult, going about his or her normal life, commits several arguable federal felonies a day without even realizing it. Entire lives can change based on the attention of a creative federal prosecutor interpreting vague criminal laws.