Comments on: A case of overcriminalization

By: captnhal

captnhal — Sat, 21 May 2011 11:24:46 +0000

Considering our government’s huge debt, I can think of far better uses of our tax dollars. Did the judge who found him guilty despite a lack of evidence forget about “reasonable doubt” and “innocent until proven guilty”?

By: david

david — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:59:02 +0000

I have heard that if you are in the US for 15 minutes, you likely have broken at least one law. I know several Europeans and they feel that our country is broken and tyrannical. I feel that something has to change in a dramatic manner, if not, we are facing another Civil War.

By: Jesse Spurway

Jesse Spurway — Fri, 20 May 2011 18:26:47 +0000

Ordeal? He broke the law and his punishment was…? an Ordeal?
He should have moved for a jury trial in Bama.

By: Robin

Robin — Fri, 20 May 2011 15:13:01 +0000

Tyranny pure and simple.

By: E-Bell

E-Bell — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:28:47 +0000

Here is an interview with Unser from 1997, not long after the incident:

http://www.salon.com/news/feature/1997/06/06/news

Some interesting tidbits:

Interviewer: You’ve long been at loggerheads with the Forest Service, especially over the Wilderness Protection Act, and some have suggested you staged your disappearance as a protest.

This makes it sound like the Forest Service could have been retaliating for Unser’s position on the Wilderness Protection Act.

Unser: The male agent looks me straight in the eye and says: “Bobby, the Sierra Club got a hold of Washington, D.C., and ordered us to give you a ticket if we found your snowmobile in the wilderness.”

Or maybe the Sierra Club was retaliating.

Either way, it’s disturbing.

By: E-Bell

E-Bell — Fri, 20 May 2011 13:22:14 +0000

This is the first I have heard of this. A short summary, for those of us who can’t watch videos at work, can be found here:

http://www.nacdl.org/public.nsf/whitecollar/overcriminalization_of_conduct/$FILE/Unser.pdf (pdf)