Except for the fact that the majority of “crimes” of this sort are accomplished without juries. “Civil” and administrative actions can be just as expensive to the unsuspecting “criminal.”
There are no laws governing the conduct of civil and administrative officers such as social workers, inspectors, and the vast number of alphabet soup agency workers. Arbitrary doesn’t come close to describing the requirements imposed without reason, mercy, or common decency. They are not beyond the law; they simply make it up as they go. And there is no recourse and no recompense for the victim.
The triumph of statutory law over common law has outlawed the common man while the triumph of unaccountable regulatory authorities has degraded our system beyond recognition or repair.
Any time a regular person opposes the government, it’s at the government’s leisure and at the defendant’s expense. You can’t outlast them and you can’t outspend them.
It gets worse when you examine the details. Criminalization of normal behavior means that normal people are thrown into jail. They have to get along with hardened criminals. Think the gang-banger lifestyle is bad? How about the effects of having to rub shoulders with real criminals?
Thankfully, we can draw lines based upon our sense of right and wrong. Some poor sap who got busted for carrying too much cash around keeps himself law-abiding at heart when he says he didn't commit a "real crime." He's helped by other people agreeing with him. (Provided, of course, he isn't a real criminal.)
blackdog: Millions of people make a living off of low level criminals. Those are the best kind. They pay their fines, won't piss in your squad car, don't throw feces at the jailer, cower in front of a judge, and will deplete every asset they have to stay out or get out of jail. Overcriminalization is downright profitable.
I'd re-post both of yours in full except it would be too redundant on such a small thread.
So let me just say you're both tied for Post of the Year (and not "collectively," either, LOL).