Overcriminalization

The Rutherford Institute continually comes to the defense of those accused of breaking laws imposed by overzealous legislatures.

Thanks to an overabundance of 4500-plus federal crimes and 400,000 plus rules and regulations, it’s estimated that the average American actually commits three felonies a day without knowing it. Everyday, more and more Americans are being arrested for such absurd “violations” as letting their kids play at a park unsupervised, collecting rainwater, growing vegetables, and holding Bible studies in the privacy of their own home.

The list of individuals who have suffered similar injustices at the hands of a runaway legal system is growing, ranging from the orchid grower jailed for improper paperwork and the lobstermen charged with importing lobster tails in plastic bags rather than cardboard boxes to the former science teacher labeled a federal criminal for digging for arrowheads in his favorite campsite.