The overcriminalization problem: Congressional Research Service cant even list all federal crimesMadison Ruppert The federal governments approach to criminalizing just about everything reminds me of how that same entity contends that just about everything is an indicator of potential terrorist activity. Similarly, public schools have turned typical childhood behavior into a punishable offense. The problem of overcriminalization has now spread beyond the unknown number of offenses outlined in the federal criminal code into your local school, homeland security agencies and more. Indeed, the number is so incredibly massive, that the Congressional Research Service told a congressional task force that they simply did not have the manpower and resources required to create a tally of all criminal offenses outlined in the federal criminal code. According to Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wisc.), Today, there are roughly 4,500 federal crimes on the books. And still many more regulations and rules that, if not abided by, result in criminal penalties, including incarceration. The problem with a significant number of these offenses is that one can commit them without ever meaning to do so or with any knowledge of wrongdoing. Harvey Silverglate, a practicing attorney in Boston, Massachusetts, newspaper columnist, and civil liberties advocate, detailed this disturbing fact in his book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent. Sensenbrenner confirms Silverglates point in stating, Americans must contend with literally thousands of obscure and cumbersome federal regulations, a simple misreading or ignorance of a regulation can land a person in prison. Molly M. Gill, government affairs counsel for Families Against Mandatory Minimums points out some of the massive problems facing Americans thanks to overcriminalization in a video released by the Cato Institute: In the video, the Constitutional doctrine of nondelegation is mentioned. Nondelegation is a doctrine which is central to the separation of powers in the Constitution. It essentially holds that the US Congress cannot delegate legislative power to any other government entities, since Congress alone is given all legislative powers by the Constitution. In case law, it has been determined that when Congress instructs government agencies to regulate, it must give those agencies an intelligible principle on which to base their regulations. This doctrine allows agencies like the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which is heavily involved in electronic and physical surveillance to carry out their activities. However, as the interviewer from Cato points out, the doctrine of nondelegation is, effectively, as far as I understand it, dead. I think the temptation to regulate is very great at the federal level, Gill said. Its a difficult temptation to resist. I think thats true in the area of criminalization too. If theres a problem, lets make it a crime, lets slap a mandatory minimum sentence on it and well fix the problem, Gill said. Its an easy way out and sometimes it gets around some of the solutions which are probably better long term but harder to choose and harder to implement. Individuals in the federal government apparently fail to resist this temptation on a regular basis. That was highlighted when Sensenbrenner said that the Congressional Research Service (CRS) could not muster the manpower to update the calculation of criminal offenses in the federal code since it was last done in 2008. CRSs initial response to our request was that they lack the manpower and resources to accomplish this task, Sensenbrenner said last month. I think this confirms the point that all of us have been making on this issue and demonstrates the breadth of overcriminalization. Ultimately, one of the most significant problems, and one that is raised in the above video, is the elimination of mens rea in the criminal code. Unfortunately, many regulatory crimes improperly define the elements of criminality, including omitting or improperly defining the appropriate level of criminal intent, Sensenbrenner stated. Without this appropriate level of criminal intent, or mens rea, defined in the code, one can accidentally break a law and face federal criminal penalties for doing so. Overcriminalization is a serious problem facing America, especially since we already have the highest prison population rate in the world, beating out every other Western country by leaps and bounds. Note: read my latest articles, European Parliament may call on Snowden, NSA chief and Glenn Greenwald to testify about NSA spying and CIA investing in research aimed at modifying the Earths climate for unknown reasons Id love to hear your opinion, take a look at your story tips and even your original writing if you would like to get it published. I am also available for interviews on radio, television or any other format. Please email me at Admin@EndtheLie.com Please support our work and help us start to pay contributors by doing your shopping through our Amazon link or check out some must-have products at our store. This article first appeared at End the Lie. Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis databaseEnd The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. 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