What Makes a Crime?
by Brent Johnson
Everywhere you look, in the newspapers, on television and radio, on the Internet, there is a constant barrage of information about the "terrible crime problem" which exists in our country today. There are more "criminals" in jail and an unprecedented number of prisons are being built in just about every American state. The general public is told that extreme measures are needed to combat the terrorist activities of the modern criminal. Incidents such as the school shooting in Littleton, Colorado and other similar tragedies elsewhere in our country are used to justify increasingly oppressive regulations designed to control what amounts to every aspect of an individual's life.
Crime has become one of the emotional issues of our day.
But how do you know that it's true? What if it was all a lie?
What, exactly, is a crime? Is a crime anything that the legislature says is a crime? Is a crime what the police define as a crime? Do judges determine what is and is not a crime? What makes a crime?
America was founded on the principle that there are higher laws than the laws of the State. Our system of government was set up so that the Law would always rule; that those in authority would have to obey the Law as written, rather than adapt the Law to suit their personal viewpoints. Ours is a government of law, not men. This means that those who are currently sitting in positions of authority cannot interpret and apply the Law to suit their own purposes. The Law is the Law; this is the foundation of America.
Our Founding fathers considered that, because our natural rights come from a higher source than government -"they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" (how many of you were Created by government?), that it would require severe circumstances before the natural, unalienable rights of any individual American could ever be violated by a government official. It was intentionally made difficult to encroach upon the natural right to liberty.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution reads in part, that no Citizen shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This means that in order to convict someone of committing a crime, in order to arrest someone's liberty, certain rigid steps must be followed.
Under fundamental common law, upon which all American law is based, in order for their to be a crime their must be a corpus deilcti or damaged party. In other words, if someone has not sustained harm and come forward to swear out a complaint against the alleged perpetrator, then theft can be no crime. It is as simple as that. If there is no damaged party, then theft is no crime.
Now that you have the definition of a crime, let's examine crime in today's America. We are told, after all, that there is a terrible crime problem. But is it really true?
According to the Bureau of Prisons, almost two-thirds of the inmate population is incarcerated for so-called "drug crimes." Now, what does that mean, a "drug crime?" Who, outside of the user, is being harmed when an individual Citizen possesses a drug which the government has determined to be illegal? The answer, of course, is nobody. No damaged party, no crime. The crime occurs when a drug addict, in pursuit of satisfying his habit, murders, rapes, robs, etc. These are crimes, because someone has been directly harmed. If the government would prosecute these real crimes, then those who simply possess drugs for their own use, without harm to their neighbors, would be left alone, as is proper under American law. To harass Citizens who have harmed no one by their actions, is itself a criminal act.
How about those people who have been jailed for not purchasing a drivers license? Who have they harmed? No damage, no crime. Or those incarcerated for other "victimless crimes?" You see, if there is no victim, there can be no crime.
What about the endless stream of "crimes" which result in the imposition of finest Fines which go to the agencies that enforce these so-called "crimes" in the first place. What a scam! Government declares something to be a crime, then takes private property (i.e. money) to pay for a violation of this "crime." If you did the same thing, you would be charged with extortion, which is a crime. Yet, government does this every day, in the name of "law and order."
Here is how legitimate criminal proceedings begin. An act which harms another person has been committed. Now, the damaged party goes to the police and signs his name to a sworn statement, in which he accuses the other party of the crime. Understand that an accusation is tantamount to character assassination, so the accusing party must sign his name to the accusation so that, if the accusation turns out to be frivolous and unfounded, then the accused party has legal recourse against the accuser.
The sworn complaint is now taken to the District Attorney, who brings it to a judge, who issues an arrest warrant. Only now can the police go and arrest the liberty of the accused party. If the accusation is false, then the Citizen whose rights have been violated can take action against the party who initiated the proceedings.
But when the government itself becomes the determiner of what is and is not a crime, then all legal recourse is removed from the individual Citizen. This is the situation in which we find ourselves today. Government declares something to be a crime, then sends out armed soldiers (police) to enforce the law against committing that "crime." Logically speaking, if you declare enough things to be a crime, then you create a large criminal population, resulting in a "terrible crime problem." This then serves to justify appropriations for more police, more prisons, etc.
The cycle never ends until the entire population has been placed in jeopardy of incarceration by the few who have effectively taken over the government. Create enough criminals and you can thereafter control all of the people.
The only solution is to disobey "laws" which create crimes out of non-criminal acts. Stop supporting those who subvert fundamental American law. Resist any efforts by police or other officials to arrest your liberty, or the liberty of your fellow Americans, unless those officials have followed rigid due process of law, and unless the "crime" in question is really a crime (with a damaged party), as opposed to a fabrication designed to criminalize everyday, innocent behavior.
American Law belongs to We the People. The Law does not belong to government officials. It is up to us, the Real Americans, to enforce the Law when our chosen representatives refuse to do so. America belongs entirely to all of the people. The only question is whether we have the character to defend our country from those in government who would attack its very foundation. They are the true criminals. Theirs is the greatest crime.
Everywhere you look, in the newspapers, on television and radio, on the Internet, there is a constant barrage of information about the "terrible crime problem" which exists in our country today. There are more "criminals" in jail and an unprecedented number of prisons are being built in just about every American state. The general public is told that extreme measures are needed to combat the terrorist activities of the modern criminal. Incidents such as the school shooting in Littleton, Colorado and other similar tragedies elsewhere in our country are used to justify increasingly oppressive regulations designed to control what amounts to every aspect of an individual's life.
Crime has become one of the emotional issues of our day.
But how do you know that it's true? What if it was all a lie?
What, exactly, is a crime? Is a crime anything that the legislature says is a crime? Is a crime what the police define as a crime? Do judges determine what is and is not a crime? What makes a crime?
America was founded on the principle that there are higher laws than the laws of the State. Our system of government was set up so that the Law would always rule; that those in authority would have to obey the Law as written, rather than adapt the Law to suit their personal viewpoints. Ours is a government of law, not men. This means that those who are currently sitting in positions of authority cannot interpret and apply the Law to suit their own purposes. The Law is the Law; this is the foundation of America.
Our Founding fathers considered that, because our natural rights come from a higher source than government -"they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights" (how many of you were Created by government?), that it would require severe circumstances before the natural, unalienable rights of any individual American could ever be violated by a government official. It was intentionally made difficult to encroach upon the natural right to liberty.
The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution reads in part, that no Citizen shall be "deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." This means that in order to convict someone of committing a crime, in order to arrest someone's liberty, certain rigid steps must be followed.
Under fundamental common law, upon which all American law is based, in order for their to be a crime their must be a corpus deilcti or damaged party. In other words, if someone has not sustained harm and come forward to swear out a complaint against the alleged perpetrator, then theft can be no crime. It is as simple as that. If there is no damaged party, then theft is no crime.
Now that you have the definition of a crime, let's examine crime in today's America. We are told, after all, that there is a terrible crime problem. But is it really true?
According to the Bureau of Prisons, almost two-thirds of the inmate population is incarcerated for so-called "drug crimes." Now, what does that mean, a "drug crime?" Who, outside of the user, is being harmed when an individual Citizen possesses a drug which the government has determined to be illegal? The answer, of course, is nobody. No damaged party, no crime. The crime occurs when a drug addict, in pursuit of satisfying his habit, murders, rapes, robs, etc. These are crimes, because someone has been directly harmed. If the government would prosecute these real crimes, then those who simply possess drugs for their own use, without harm to their neighbors, would be left alone, as is proper under American law. To harass Citizens who have harmed no one by their actions, is itself a criminal act.
How about those people who have been jailed for not purchasing a drivers license? Who have they harmed? No damage, no crime. Or those incarcerated for other "victimless crimes?" You see, if there is no victim, there can be no crime.
What about the endless stream of "crimes" which result in the imposition of finest Fines which go to the agencies that enforce these so-called "crimes" in the first place. What a scam! Government declares something to be a crime, then takes private property (i.e. money) to pay for a violation of this "crime." If you did the same thing, you would be charged with extortion, which is a crime. Yet, government does this every day, in the name of "law and order."
Here is how legitimate criminal proceedings begin. An act which harms another person has been committed. Now, the damaged party goes to the police and signs his name to a sworn statement, in which he accuses the other party of the crime. Understand that an accusation is tantamount to character assassination, so the accusing party must sign his name to the accusation so that, if the accusation turns out to be frivolous and unfounded, then the accused party has legal recourse against the accuser.
The sworn complaint is now taken to the District Attorney, who brings it to a judge, who issues an arrest warrant. Only now can the police go and arrest the liberty of the accused party. If the accusation is false, then the Citizen whose rights have been violated can take action against the party who initiated the proceedings.
But when the government itself becomes the determiner of what is and is not a crime, then all legal recourse is removed from the individual Citizen. This is the situation in which we find ourselves today. Government declares something to be a crime, then sends out armed soldiers (police) to enforce the law against committing that "crime." Logically speaking, if you declare enough things to be a crime, then you create a large criminal population, resulting in a "terrible crime problem." This then serves to justify appropriations for more police, more prisons, etc.
The cycle never ends until the entire population has been placed in jeopardy of incarceration by the few who have effectively taken over the government. Create enough criminals and you can thereafter control all of the people.
The only solution is to disobey "laws" which create crimes out of non-criminal acts. Stop supporting those who subvert fundamental American law. Resist any efforts by police or other officials to arrest your liberty, or the liberty of your fellow Americans, unless those officials have followed rigid due process of law, and unless the "crime" in question is really a crime (with a damaged party), as opposed to a fabrication designed to criminalize everyday, innocent behavior.
American Law belongs to We the People. The Law does not belong to government officials. It is up to us, the Real Americans, to enforce the Law when our chosen representatives refuse to do so. America belongs entirely to all of the people. The only question is whether we have the character to defend our country from those in government who would attack its very foundation. They are the true criminals. Theirs is the greatest crime.
