Criminalization of acts

This is a travesty of justice. Sometimes, There Ought Not To Be a Law.

Things should be criminalized because they are bad, not bad because they are criminalized.

This is a prime example of a legislature out of control:

Unfortunately, RIDA [Recycling and Illegal Dumping Act] is only one example of overcriminalization at work. Historically, criminal convictions required defendants be found guilty of both criminal intent (mens rea) and a criminal act (actus rea). Activist legislators such as Sen. Feldman aim to diminish -- or eliminate altogether -- the requirement of criminal intent and focus solely on the harmful act.

This break with centuries of legal precedent is dangerous. It jeopardizes the liberty of everyone. Consider: Will average New Mexicans have any reason to suspect that it is a criminal offense to store old tires on their own property?

Criminalizing relatively minor offenses damages the credibility and authority of the rule of law. Civil society prospers when citizens acknowledge the laws that govern them as patently legitimate. When the rule of law becomes nothing more than the whim of power-hungry legislators, civil society suffers.

Amen. Lawmakers pass laws like they were paid on a commission basis. Maybe they ought to pay a fee for every time they want to introduce a law. Something on the order of 1/4th to 1/3rd of their salary for being a legislator. Then put it on a sliding scale for those who have money beyond what they get for being a lawmaker.

Under the vague pretense of protecting public health, safety, or vitality, government can justify criminalizing an unlimited litany of offenses -- and therein lies the problem. As long as government can do something, it will, and so legislators will legislate and prosecutors will prosecute.

Just think about that for a minute, and ask yourself if that's what you really want.