The Tyranny of Prosecutors

Clark NeilyAmong the most chilling lines of the 20th century was when Josef Stalin ’s chief of secret police Lavrenty Beria sought to assure his boss that literally anyone could be convicted and purged by boasting, “You show me the man, and I will find you the crime. ” Today, few American prosecutors would make that same boast (at least out loud), but they certainly could. Just ask Donald Trump.Is Trump a crook? Probably. Has he shown consistent disdain for norms throughout his professional and political career, including legal norms like honoring contracts, paying taxes, and truth in advertising? Absolutely.But even if Trump were a model of personal probity —a Mitt Romney, say, or…yeah, a Mitt Romney —how confident could he be that a team of prosecutors, combing back through years or even decades of his professional and personal life, would findnothing they could charge him with? Indeed, how confident could any of us be?Anyone who has ever paid taxes, run for office, started a business, purchased a firearm, driven a car, drank alcohol, done drugs, or gambled on a football game has either committed a crime outright or has become enmeshed in such a byzantine regulatory thicket that it would be absurd for them to assert with complete confidence that they had never committed any crime for which they could in theory be prosecuted. “Show me the man and I will find you the …misdemeanor speeding offense, exp...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs