Supreme Court Justice Says America Has Too Many Laws
Justice Neil Gorsuch noted that federal crimes have nearly doubled in his lifetime, saying "nobody knows how many federal crimes there are because it would take years just to read them."
In his new book "Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law," U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch says he sees as a nation at risk from an explosion of new laws.
"I've been a judge now for about 18 years," Gorsuch said in an interview with CBS at the Supreme Court. "And I just saw so many cases where ordinary Americans — decent, hard working Americans — were just trying to make their way in life. They weren't trying to hurt anybody, and yet they were caught up in the legal system in ways they couldn't hardly affect."
Gorsuch said his is a "book of stories" about the cases he and others have seen — from fishermen in Florida, to monks in Louisiana and a magician in Missouri.
"Their experiences in a world where law has really exploded — just in our lifetimes," Gorsuch said.
The stories are "emblematic of a world in which we just have so much law," Gorsuch said. He noted that federal crimes have nearly doubled in his lifetime, saying "nobody knows how many federal crimes there are because it would take years just to read them."
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