There are too many laws..........

OFF THE WIRE
Sent by Fast Fred
& Jan
Andy is a fine lawyer who has served several of my friends well when
they faced stiff criminal charges. ~ff
http://www.charlestoncitypaper.com/charleston/andy-savage-has-a-beef-with-the-books/Content?oid=2609268
There are too many laws
by Andy Savage
I have had a law license for 35 years. I am a lucky guy. Through
economic boom or gloom, I can depend on my elected officials to pass
more laws nationally, statewide, and locally to keep my office busy.
Rarely are laws rescinded.
More than 4,450 federal crimes are scattered throughout the 50 titles
of the Federal Code of Laws. In addition, it is estimated that there
are at least 10,000 (maybe as many as 300,000) federal regulations
that can be enforced criminally.

State and local laws are no different. Try opening a small business
or, heaven forbid, a restaurant or bar. Have you visited a municipal
court lately? And be sure to try out our "nationally recognized"
Livability Court. What happens there trumps any notion that we are
"the most polite city in the nation."
Do we really need law enforcement intervention, prosecutors, judges,
and juries to sanction someone when they leave out their garbage cans
or when an art patron has a glass of wine on Broad Street or when a
tourist takes a swig of beer in midtown?
To enforce these many laws, we need ? what else ? law enforcement. In
Charleston County there are at least nine different municipalities
with law enforcement departments, including the Charleston Police
Department, Folly Beach Department of Public Safety, Isle of Palms
Police Department, North Charleston Police Department, Kiawah Island
Department of Public Safety, Lincolnville Police Department, Mt.
Pleasant Police Department, Seabrook Island Department of Public
Safety, and the Sullivan's Island Police Department. And that doesn't
include the Charleston County Sheriff's Department.

There are also numerous state agencies with law enforcement powers,
including the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Highway Patrol,
Department of Health and Environmental Control, Ports Authority,
Department of Natural Resources, and Department of Social Services.
And these lists don't even include the federal agencies.

Can we really afford this? Are we that much safer?
There was a time when the word "criminal" reflected the worst of us.
The political trend now is to over-criminalize America with laws and
regulations that govern every aspect of our lives, leaving us with
constricted civil liberties, an enormous fiscal debt, and a lost sense
of civic duty, respect for others, and self-control.

Last year, a local chief of police whose administration is often
focused on drinking in public, and with high-tech cameras to catch
those offenders, told an anxious parent of a missing child that his
department could not afford to spend much time on missing persons as
they were investigating "real" crimes. Oh, really?
 
More than 4,450 federal crimes are scattered throughout the 50 titles of the Federal Code of Laws. In addition, it is estimated that there are at least 10,000 (maybe as many as 300,000) federal regulations that can be enforced criminally.

That's atrocious! And that's just federal. Those numbers don't even include state laws, county, and local ordinances!
Sheesh! I wonder how people are going to like having yet another level of government when the evil New World Order takes over. They might as well just toss me in prison now and get it over with, because with that many "crimes" I must be violating at least one.
There was an old saying, "ignorance of the law is no excuse". That made sense when crimes were a matter of knowing better. If someone did somebody harm, stole or otherwise defrauded, or intentionally damaged property, that was a crime. Other than that, pursuit of happiness and enjoying life and liberty was the order of the day. I don't think that old saying can be said with a straight face nowadays.
Just in case any of you are wondering if you are breaking some law you don't know about, here's a good place to start.
http://tjshome.com/dumblaws.php - Remember not to take your pet lion to the movies in Baltimore.

Jan