The federal government has been criminalizing Americans for decades over regulations they didn’t even know existed.
Donald Trump took action to end this injustice.
And the President just fired a shot across the bow of the Deep State with an executive order that will stop everyday Americans from being criminalized for violating obscure federal regulations.
Trump takes on the regulatory state
President Trump signed an executive order on Friday aimed at reining in the overcriminalization of America through federal regulations.
The order, titled “Fighting Overcriminalization in Federal Regulations,” addresses the absurd reality that U.S. citizens face potential criminal penalties for violating any of the more than 48,000 federal regulations – most of which they couldn’t possibly know exist.
“The United States is drastically over-regulated,” Trump’s executive order states. “The Code of Federal Regulations contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages — far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand.”
Even more disturbing is that many of these regulations carry potential criminal penalties, even when Americans have no idea they’re breaking the law.
“Many of these regulatory crimes are ‘strict liability’ offenses, meaning that citizens need not have a guilty mental state to be convicted of a crime,” the order explains.
The Deep State’s hidden trap for everyday Americans
The situation has become so out of control that not even the Department of Justice knows how many separate criminal offenses are contained in federal regulations. Some estimates suggest there could be hundreds of thousands of such crimes.
This regulatory nightmare creates a system where unelected bureaucrats write laws and then prosecute Americans for breaking them – a clear abuse of power that violates the Constitutional separation of powers.
Trump’s order makes it clear this system “can lend itself to abuse and weaponization by providing Government officials tools to target unwitting individuals.”
The President’s executive order also points out that this regulatory maze favors large corporations that can afford teams of expensive lawyers, while leaving everyday Americans vulnerable to prosecution for violations they couldn’t reasonably be expected to know about.
Trump’s solution to protect American citizens
The executive order establishes several important reforms:
- Criminal enforcement of regulatory offenses is now “disfavored” and should focus only on individuals who knowingly violated regulations and caused substantial public harm.
- All federal agencies must produce a complete list of criminally enforceable regulations within one year and post it publicly.
- Strict liability offenses (where you can be convicted without intent) are “generally disfavored” and agencies are directed to pursue civil rather than criminal penalties in these cases.
- Future regulations with criminal penalties must explicitly state what conduct is prohibited and what level of intent is required for prosecution.
- Each agency must publish clear guidance on when they will refer cases for criminal enforcement.
Eliminating a weapon of the administrative state
This executive order aligns with longstanding concerns from legal experts and civil liberties advocates about the growth of criminal penalties in federal regulations.
The Heritage Foundation has previously reported that the average American likely commits three felonies a day without knowing it, due to the vast and complex web of federal regulations carrying criminal penalties.
Critics of regulatory overreach have long warned that such a system gives too much power to unelected bureaucrats and prosecutors while leaving ordinary Americans vulnerable to selective enforcement.
Resistance from the bureaucracy expected
The order will likely face resistance from entrenched interests in the federal bureaucracy, particularly from agencies that have relied on criminal enforcement powers to impose their regulatory agenda.
But these critics miss the point. The order doesn’t prevent prosecution of those who knowingly violate regulations and cause harm – it simply requires that Americans know what the law is before they can be criminally charged with breaking it.
This executive order is part of Trump’s broader effort to cut unnecessary regulations and return power to the American people. Since returning to office, the President has established the Department of Government Efficiency to streamline the federal government and launched a 10-to-1 deregulation initiative.
Trump’s action deals a significant blow to the administrative state and restores a fundamental principle of American justice: You shouldn’t be treated like a criminal for breaking rules you didn’t even know existed.
