Over criminalization has long been a problem in Michigan which makes offenders out of regular, law abiding citizens who are often unaware of the fact that they were in the wrong. In fact, the draconian and obtuse statutes have put people in prison for acts that would not be considered even remotely criminal in any other state.
But then again, Michigan’s Criminal Code is one of its kind, with almost 3012 laws and 45 more added each year. This is twice as long as that of Ohio and other neighboring states. To get a gist of just how preposterous some of these provisions are, here are a few examples:
• Buying a car whether new or old on Sunday could get you on the wrong side of law
• As would driving on one of the state’s forested lands
Humor aside, the oppressive nature of the laws become apparent when you consider cases where a person was put in jail for nearly 300 days and asked to pay a fine of $11,000 just because he chose to sell the spare tires he had to a shop that did not have a license. So, his transgressions were listed as abetting a criminal establishment.
Another woman met with a similar fate and was going to face jail time for helping her neighbor’s kids board the school bus in the morning along with her own. According to the Michigan laws this was interpreted as running a day care or child care center without the requisite permits.
A bill has been floored asking for criminal intent to be proven before arrests can be made in all future laws that would result in criminal charges. However, even if it were to come into effect, it would not be retroactive in case of the older statutes. So, where does that leave the regular Michigan Joe or Jane, who may have committed at least a few dozen crimes since he/she woke up in the morning?