Harvey Silverglate‘s highly praised new book “Three Felonies a Day” explains how people commit felonies without even realizing, simply because the number of modern federal criminal laws has exploded and also become exceptionally broad and vague.
The Harvard Law Record recently reviewed the book, calling it “impressively researched” and saying “‘Three Felonies a Day’ could become an important book in the public debate over the need for reform of the justice system and the proper role of prosecutors in shaping the law.”
Read the full review here.
Just read this myself—it’s tersely argued, impeccably researched, and downright frightening. Silverglate’s basic thesis is that we are all criminals; it’s up to prosecutors as to how many, and which of us, to charge. We often laugh at some of the arcane, loony laws of the past, but there are many on the books now that put any one of us on the business end of our justice system.