Reason has released these episodes of their Crime Squad series, in which puppet cops highlight some examples of dumb laws on the books, the point being that even stupid laws are still backed by the full force and fury of the State — kind of makes one think that maybe we have too much law and what we have needs a full review.
There is, of course, a deadly serious side to this: real people end up in jail because of stupid laws. In this video interview below, Reason talks with criminal defense attorney Mike Chase, the man behind the popular @CrimeADay Twitter feed, who has a new book titled, How to Become a Federal Criminal: An Illustrated Handbook for the Aspiring Offender. It chronicles government power at its most arbitrary and absurd.