The system is collapsing. I cannot think of a single person who would not be considered a criminal by the various state, local, and federal govts. I especially chortle at the various individuals here and other places around the net and in the real world who continually support the govt, secure in the fact that THEY follow all the rules and therefore never have to worry about being labelled a criminal.
You can even see TPTB beginning to turn on each other - witness the FBI being sicced on the Congressman and string of disgraced CIA officials.
I think Tainter's idea of complexity being a killer of civilizations is 100percent accurate and what we are seeing now is that, sooner or later, all of us are going to be on the wrong side of the law.
What will you do then ?
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'D')id you know that it is a crime to tell a lie to the federal government? Even if your lie is oral and not under oath? Even if you have received no warnings of any kind? Even if you are not trying to cheat the government out of money? Even if the government is not actually misled by your falsehood? Well it is.
Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001 makes it a crime to: 1) knowingly and willfully; 2) make any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation; 3) in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive, legislative or judicial branch of the United States. Your lie does not even have to be made directly to an employee of the national government as long as it is "within the jurisdiction" of the ever expanding federal bureaucracy. Though the falsehood must be "material" this requirement is met if the statement has the "natural tendency to influence or [is] capable of influencing, the decision of the decisionmaking body to which it is addressed." United States v. Gaudin, 515 U.S. 506, 510 (1995). (In other words, it is not necessary to show that your particular lie ever really influenced anyone.) Although you must know that your statement is false at the time you make it in order to be guilty of this crime, you do not have to know that lying to the government is a crime or even that the matter you are lying about is "within the jurisdiction" of a government agency. United States v. Yermian, 468 U.S. 63, 69 (1984). For example, if you lie to your employer on your time and attendance records and, unbeknownst to you, he submits your records, along with those of other employees, to the federal government pursuant to some regulatory duty, you could be criminally liable.
PeakOil is You
Everyone's A Criminal Now
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Everyone's A Criminal Now
by kochevnik » Thu 08 Jun 2006, 11:30:19
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Consider, for example, the following hypothetical. Assume you are the former employee of a corrupt home health care agency. You hated the place, left as soon as you could and did your best while there not to join in the fraud you saw being committed all around you. Nevertheless, you looked the other way and on occasion minimally aided the owner's criminal behavior. Maybe you transported false vouchers to the mailbox or handed miscoded bills to a visiting auditor. (It is very easy under federal criminal law to passively aid another in his or her crime and thereby subject yourself to criminal exposure. All you need is to know of another's crime and perform any act, even a minor act, that intentionally and knowingly facilitates the crime.) Assume further that you are a registered nurse and that your licensing state will revoke your license if they find that you were involved in fraud. One afternoon, two years after you quit, your neighborhood FBI agent comes calling. He needs damaging information about your former employer and you certainly know enough to help out. But revealing what you know could also expose you to revocation of your license. What do you do in that situation and what are the potential pitfalls?
Your first instinct may very well be to feign lack of knowledge concerning the details of the former employer's behavior, particularly if, as is often the case, the agent's visit is unexpected. People often panic in these encounters and blurt out falsehoods to cover up past misdeeds, even very small misdeeds. Once you make that fateful choice the FBI agent and the Assistant United States Attorney ("AUSA") who he works with may have you over a barrel. If they possess enough evidence to prove that you are lying they can bring or threaten to bring charges against you under Section 1001. In fact some AUSAs specifically send agents out to conduct interviews knowing that a witness will either tell the truth and help build a case against someone else or lie and subject himself to a Section 1001 charge. In such situations, the federal agent is typically well-informed about the facts of the case, but plays dumb in order to instill a false sense of confidence in the interview subject. And, unlike you, the agent has had time to examine all relevant documents. (It also bears noting that the FBI will usually not tape record the interview and that the only official interview report will be an FBI 302, which is the agent's own dictated version of the conversation. Agents usually work in pairs as well, so in any later dispute over what was said in the interview, guess whose version is likely to prevail? Yours, or the two FBI agents who dictated the 302?) Even if the prosecutor does not really want to indict a little fish like you, by lying in the interview you may force him to do so. If he ultimately convinces you to tell the truth and indicts your former employer, he must still reveal your falsehood to the employer's attorney, under Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963) and Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972). This information will be used by the attorney to publicly and vigorously cross-examine you at trial. Since you are now going to be a tainted witness, because of your original falsehood, the prosecutor may feel obliged to indict you in order to show a jury (or other potential witnesses) that you have paid a price for lying to the FBI.
Hence we see that even a decent person who tries to stay out of trouble can face criminal exposure under Section 1001 through a fleeting conversation with government agents. What else can be done (in our hypothetical interview) to avoid being placed in such a dilemma? Of course, you can simply tell the whole truth the first time, like your mommy taught you to do. Wouldn't that be the easy thing to do, even if your nursing license ends up being revoked? Perhaps. But by telling the truth, and avoiding prosecution under Section 1001, you expose yourself to a potential indictment for aiding and abetting your former employer's health care fraud. You don't think it could happen? Trust me. It happens all the time, almost every week, all across this country.
What if you are absolutely convinced that you didn't do anything to help your former employer and that you are entirely innocent of wrongdoing? Since you have nothing to hide, is it safe to talk? There can still be real danger in speaking to a government agent in these circumstances. To begin with, you are not qualified to know whether you are innocent of wrongdoing under federal criminal law. I have already noted the minimal nature of the act needed to connect you to another's crime if you have knowledge of that crime. But the danger goes beyond this. Not all federal crimes (particularly regulatory crimes) even require criminal intent. Moreover, you and your employer may have engaged in some widespread industry practice, acceptable at the time, which is now under stricter scrutiny. One offhand remark to the federal agent could turn into a damaging admission.
Even assuming your absolute innocence of the wrongdoing being investigated, however, the agent has had the luxury of minutely studying all of the relevant paperwork surrounding that investigation. You, on the other hand, may not have thought about the subject matter, much less the underlying details, of his inquiry for years. You will probably not be shown any of the pertinent documents before the interview begins. You could easily make factual mistakes during your interview. What happens then? Maybe nothing, if you are dealing with an experienced agent who surmises that you are trying to tell the truth. But if the agent is inexperienced and unsure of your culpability or if you are not confirming his version of events, your mistakes can easily be interpreted as intentional falsehoods under Section 1001.
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Re: Everyone's A Criminal Now
by Kylon » Thu 08 Jun 2006, 12:22:44
That's easy to solve, always support the ruling party. Suck up bigtime, and make sure your always an asset, get educated in some sort of practical, useful field and fast. Brains and skill will always be useful, especially when society doesn't have the resources to develop them anymore.
Remember, if you piss the public(or more important their masters the elites) off, then even if for some reason they can't find a law to throw you in jail(which they always can), they can either A) make up something/frame you, B) suspect you of terrorism, or C) make a law against you.
On the other hand, if your party has absolute power, and your a staunch loyal supporter of them, then even if you break the law here and there, they may look the other way, or even give you a pardon if your doing them a major service. Of course, the stronger democracy is, the harder it is for the elites to give pardons, or free you from any kind of legal duties. As well the harder it is for them to legally throw you in jail.
Ultimately law means nothing, it's those controlling, enforcing and interpreting the law that matter. As democracy erodes, this will become more and more true. Law will mean less, and political power of the government will be absolute.
Remember, if you piss the public(or more important their masters the elites) off, then even if for some reason they can't find a law to throw you in jail(which they always can), they can either A) make up something/frame you, B) suspect you of terrorism, or C) make a law against you.
On the other hand, if your party has absolute power, and your a staunch loyal supporter of them, then even if you break the law here and there, they may look the other way, or even give you a pardon if your doing them a major service. Of course, the stronger democracy is, the harder it is for the elites to give pardons, or free you from any kind of legal duties. As well the harder it is for them to legally throw you in jail.
Ultimately law means nothing, it's those controlling, enforcing and interpreting the law that matter. As democracy erodes, this will become more and more true. Law will mean less, and political power of the government will be absolute.
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Re: Everyone's A Criminal Now
by Kingcoal » Thu 08 Jun 2006, 13:32:15
I've been lying about my manly endowment all my life. I guess I never slept with a federal agent.
"That's the problem with mercy, kid... It just ain't professional" - Fast Eddie, The Color of Money
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