by Curtis Coleman: There is a federal law known as the Hatch Act that prohibits federal employees from campaigning while acting in an official capacity. Federal investigators recently discovered that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius violated that federal law by using her Cabinet position to campaign for President Obama.
Secretary Sebelius used a speech at a Human Rights Campaign event in Charlotte, North Carolina to say that it is “imperative” to reelect President Obama. Now, she can be forgiven for feeling that way because she will almost certainly lose her job if President Obama is not reelected.
But what was her defense for her federal crime? She admitted that her speech was a “mistake.” Of, okay, there you go. Should I ever unwittingly commit a federal crime, that’s the defense I’ll use. Now get this. Sebelius even admitted she made the “mistake,” but said she should not have been found in violation of the Hatch Act. I like that defense even better. “I did it, but I shouldn’t be found guilty of doing it!” Man, that should resonate with a judge and jury.
The fact is, my dear friends, that our federal legal code has been so incredibly over-criminalized that a recent study found that the average American probably unknowingly commits – on the average – three federal crimes per day.
The problem is – if we’re all felons – the people in charge get to decide who will be prosecuted and who will not, which is why Kathleen Sebelius’s lame defense will probably be sufficient – for her.
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Curtis Coleman is Chairman of The Institute for Constitutional Policy.
Tags: Curtis Coleman, Hatch Act, Human Rights Campaign, Kathleen Sebelius, over-criminalized, Coleman Commentary Podcasts, Constitution To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the ARRA News Service. Thanks!
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