Posts Tagged ‘Criminalization’
A Blueprint for a Transition to a Peacetime Economy
(This post is a little different from my usual writings, but I think it’s important to understand the relationship between militarism and the loss of civil and political rights. It’s also important to understand there is a way out of militarism, as discussed in the conclusion.) America has been at war my entire life. In [...]
Can Obama Send U.S. Citizens to Guantanamo Bay?
The blogosphere has been humming the last couple of weeks with condemnation of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. This bill, which funds U.S. military forces for the coming year, has a neat little provision tucked away in Sec. 1031. It permits anyone the government claims is “a member of, or part of, al-Qaida or [...]
Yes, You ARE a Criminal…You Just Don’t Know it Yet
How many felonies have you committed today? If you’re like most Americans, you probably violate federal or state law several times each day, without even knowing it. Just ask Sally Harpold. A resident of Clinton, Indiana, Sally purchased some cold medicine for her husband back in March. A few days later, she purchased some additional [...]
IRS Backs Down on Foreigners’ Obligations to Report non-U.S. Accounts
U.S. citizens and residents have an annual obligation to report the existence of all “foreign bank, securities or ‘other’ financial accounts” if the aggregate value of those accounts exceeded US$10,000 at any time during the preceding year. You must reveal the name, address, account number, and highest value in the preceding year of each non-U.S. [...]
Feds Seize Innocent Creditors’ Assets in $380 Million Swindle
Yes, New York attorney Marc Dreier’s alleged $700 million fraud (details here) is chump change compared with Bernie Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi Scheme. But it’s still a lot of money. And even more noteworthy is how federal prosecutors have trampled on the rights of Dreier’s clients and other unsecured creditors of his firm. Authorities investigating [...]
Why Wasn’t Elliot Spitzer Prosecuted for Money Laundering?
About a year ago, former New York governor Elliot Spitzer made a series of cash withdrawals from his own bank account. The total amount he withdrew came to more than $15,000. Spitzer used the cash to pay a company called Emperors Club VIP to procure high-priced prostitutes. After Spitzer’s bank identified the withdrawals as “suspicious [...]
Can the Government Literally Seize the Shirt off Your Back?
I’m a long-time critic of state and federal forfeiture laws. Civil forfeiture laws, supposedly derived from an obscure passage in the Bible, permit police to seize your property without ever charging you with a crime, much less convicting you of one. Based on the flimsiest imaginable evidence (perhaps provided by a “confidential informant”), police can [...]
Mary, Mary, No Longer So Contrary
One of the best ways to protect wealth you simply can’t afford to lose in a frivolous lawsuit is with an offshore trust. However, there’s a right way—and a wrong way—to form an offshore trust. And a Florida resident named Mary Morris is the newest poster child on how NOT to form and use an [...]