In a book called Three Felonies A Day, Boston civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate says that everyone in the US commits felonies everyday and if the government takes a dislike to you for any reason, they’ll dig in and find a felony you’re guilty of.
Full Answer
Three Felonies a Day by Harvey Silverglate, a prominent defense lawyer lays out the contention that vague laws,prosecutorial overreach, and sympathetic (mostly) Federal judiciary are being used by the DOJ and State attorneys General to obtain unfair advantage.
This is an excellent book which explains how federal agencies, especially the DOJ, use federal statutes to prosecute and convict people who have not intentionally committed a crime, and in some cases, have either not committed a crime at all, or have committed a crime that no one would reasonably consider a crime.
Kenneth Lay of Enron was convicted not because of any specific statement he made that was proved false, but because general optimistic sentiments he conveyed to the press contradicted some internal concerns he had about the company. It looked then like any earnings ballyhoo by any executives might be a crime.
Since the 1999 Eric Holder memorandum and the 2003 Larry Thompson memorandum, the Department of Justice has threatened corporations with criminal charges unless they withdrew legal counsel, opened up papers supposedly held under "attorney-client privilege" and assisted the DOJ against its most important employees.
justice miscarriages and corrupt law officials and violent private companies and police are all over the place, not just America. In America and the UK people raise questions and protest more I think than other places. We have to stay positive like, and faithful to what's fair and true.
HARVEY A. SILVERGLATE is counsel to Boston’s Zalkind, Rodriguez, Lunt & Duncan LLP, specializing in criminal defense, civil liberties, and academic freedom/student rights law. He is co-founder and Chairman of FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and is a regular columnist for The Boston Phoenix.
Silverglate notes that things began to change significantly around the 1980s as prosecutors began to use law and regulations like Silly Putty to criminalize normal business conduct.
Silverglate includes a "call to action," outlining what he believes must happen to change the situation. He rejects the possibility of internal reform of the Department of Justice (DOJ) because it is entrenched in a culture of "win at all costs" prosecutions regardless of which political party is in power.
Compelling state interest as control of men manifests itself in many of the cases discussed in Three Felonies. One case in particular examines not only the raw grasp for power by the DOJ, but the complicity of the federal judiciary in undermining justice. Bradford C.
The mess chronicled in Three Felonies is far more than the work of individual clueless legislators or crooked prosecutors and judges. It is the logical result of man's denial of the sovereignty of God and His law over all of His creation, and man's wish to be as God and to rule over himself and his fellow man.
Boston civil-liberties lawyer Harvey Silverglate calls his new book "Three Felonies a Day ," referring to the number of crimes he estimates the average American now unwittingly commits because of vague laws. New technology adds its own complexity, making innocent activity potentially criminal.
In 2001, a man named Bradford Councilman was charged in Massachusetts with violating the wiretap laws.
Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior.
You commit three felonies a day. In a book called Three Felonies A Day, Boston civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate says that everyone in the US commits felonies everyday and if the government takes a dislike to you for any reason, they’ll dig in and find a felony you’re guilty of.
The dangers spelled out in Three Felonies a Day do not apply solely to “white collar criminals,” state and local politicians, and professionals.