Criminalizing Everyone

An article in the Washington Times about the increasingly frightening overreach of federal criminal law:

The agents who spent half a day ransacking Mrs. Norris' longtime home in Spring, Texas, answered no questions while they emptied file cabinets, pulled books off shelves, rifled through drawers and closets, and threw the contents on the floor.

The six agents, wearing SWAT gear and carrying weapons, were with - get this- the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Kathy and George Norris lived under the specter of a covert government investigation for almost six months before the government unsealed a secret indictment and revealed why the Fish and Wildlife Service had treated their family home as if it were a training base for suspected terrorists. Orchids.

That's right. Orchids.

Summing up, they put an elderly, law-abiding citizen in a federal penitentiary for two years because he didn't fill out a piece of federal paperwork that he didn't even know existed.

The Norrises' nightmare began with the search in October 2003. It didn't end until Mr. Norris was released from federal supervision in December 2008. His wife testified, however, that even after he came home, the man she had married was still gone. He was by then 71 years old. Unsurprisingly, serving two years as a federal convict - in addition to the years it took to defend unsuccessfully against the charges - had taken a severe toll on him mentally, emotionally and physically.

One of the guiding principles of my life: Criminals are not my friends, but neither are the police. Crooks and cops are two sides of the same coin; if you go far enough around the spectrum, their goals actually overlap.

Too many criminals and society breaks down in anarchy; too many police results in a loss of freedom. The two must be balanced in a healthy society. One should always remember that the self-serving forces of government are constantly trying to tip that balance in their favor; you'd be well-advised to keep a very close eye on them.

Trust your family. Trust your friends. But never, ever trust a government official.