"When is conduct a crime, and when is a crime not a crime? When Somebody Up There -- a monarch, a dictator, a Pope, a legislator -- so decrees."
by:
Jessica Mitford
(1917-1996) Self-described 'muckraker' and political radical
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I'm afraid this is too true.
 -- E Archer, NYC     
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    There is a huge difference between absolute law and man's rules. As far as man's government goes, unless he declares it a crime, it's not. It may be a heinous sin, a gross transgression, or an intolerable iniquity, all with consequences but, it is not a crime.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    Galileo was a crininal according to the Pope. Sir Thomas More was a criminal according to Henry VIII. The Salem Witches were criminals also. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Democracy is the only answer.
     -- Bruce, Alabama     
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    It seems or legislators have "decreed" so many acts to be crimes that one cannot live without being a criminal.
     -- Ken, Allyn, WA     
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    I WOULD HOPE THAT SOME DAY YOUR LIBERTY -TREE.CA WILL BE IN EVERY CLASS ROOM & ABOVE ALL THAT WE WILL HAVE TEACHERS THAT WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT THE AUTHOR MEANS, NOT WHAT THEY THINK IN THE LOCAL TIME PERIOD & GEOGRAPHILCAL CAGE OF UNIFORMITY TOCQUEVILLE WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT HOW WE THINK- NO ALL OF US
     -- FARLEY MOXLEY, RICHMOND,VA     
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    The greatest enemy of personal freedom is mob rule/true democracy. People as individuals are more inclined to understand the importance of taking responsibility for their behavior. When operating as a group morality and ethics takes on a very different character. Our entire government was based on the power of the individual. Without strict adherence to the principles of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence ;Criminal mob rule will become the law of the land.
     -- geoff, Farmingville     
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    Matthew 7:1-3 gives one pause.
     -- Bob Leavitt, Charlotte, VT     
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    I would like to add an eternal reality. At natural law (the law of nature and of nature's God, that which was to be the jurisdictional foundation of the de jure States united; as is averse to the occupying statist theocracy now infesting this land's legal positivism - tyranny of man), a crime is an infringement on an innocent third party's person or property, limited to life, liberty and property. Compelled compliance, license, victimless crimes, larceny with impunity, non-recognition or allowance of a perfected allodial freehold (absolute ownership) and all else that is contrary to a faculty of birth's inalienable rights are criminal endeavors by monarchs, dictators, Popes, legislators, executives, judges, implementers of socialism and all else as would force such by the sword.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    When the American flag is considered racist and tens of thousands of illegal alien criminals are released into the population to commit more murders and rapes ... that's when!
     -- J Carlton, Calgary     
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    Even Commies can speak the truth.
     -- jim k, austin tx     
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    Let us not forget that there are bad guys.
    It is also important to note that the purpose of the law is not to make us more moral through time but to make sure crime remains morally repugnant and that criminals do not gain in power every time they commit a crime.
    We do not have a free market in protection. The government has that monopoly. All we can do is get them to recognize that the correct laws are those that are universally accepted and to discard those that are only for the government's convenience.
     -- Walter Clark, Fullerton CA     
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    It was the purpose of our founding fathers to instill moral fiber and the belief in the Creator. Who's fingerprints are throughout all of nature and in harmony with the Rock ( KJB ), that bears his word. Well said , Geoff and Mike. Walter that is your personal point of view. Treason runs rampant. disguised through double talk.
     -- Ron w13, Or     
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    Bruce, Alabama
    Hitler was elected in a democracy. A nation must have a strong constitution to restrict the powers of government.
     -- cal, Lewisville, tx     
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    Criminal behavior is not a great mystery. Whoever destroys life is criminal.  Whoever creates the components of life, and not monsters, is certainly not a criminal.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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    Sillik, you misuse and ignorance of the term / concept "criminal" clouds your word salad. The term / concept "criminal" has no foundation in/at nature's law or substantive tangibility. "Crime or criminal" is simply that which goes against he who has the most power to enforce harm. By example; jay-walking across a street where there is no traffic is not an infraction of law — it is merely going against a tyrant's dictates, it is a crime. AND, to the extreme; If one Party takes the life of an innocent third Party, though it be a breach of nature's law, it is not a crime unless an "overlord" with power to enforce calls it a crime.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    No, Mike, Norwalk, crime is an objective term denoting destruction, "and if you want destruction, you can count me out," as the poet sings.  If you want creativity, you can me in, as the law-abiding citizen urges.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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    Sillik 🤪 Obviously another definition from your dictionary for mentally ill children that is absolutely contrary to the historically accepted legal meaning.
     -- Mike, Norwalk     
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    Mike, Norwalk, Absolutely.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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    How about we stick to the Common Law definition of what is a crime, i.e. mens rea, meaning that any act committed with a malicious intent is considered 'criminal.'  In order to determine 'guilt,' mens rea must be proved, otherwise, the verdict must be 'innocent.'
     -- E Archer, NYC     
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    Mr Archer, I believe you have the more qualified representation here.  Originally, I was trying to express the idea as I continue to try to conclude that crime is more than a subjective declaration. And I have to admit you are on a more definitive path with your common law interjection, and it's state of mind variant.  But the final analysis reveals that the human being, in the final analysis, is in fact, innocent of all crimes simply because what lies at the heart of all human beings is in fact a law abiding citizen. Can you understand this objective declaration.
     -- Fredrick William Sillik, Anytown     
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