Professor Glen Reynolds (Beauchamp Brogan Distinguished Professor of Law, University of Tennessee. J.D. Yale Law School, 1985) takes that quote from former Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson for his paper "Ham Sandwich Nation: Due Process When Everything Is A Crime". In it, he discusses the impacts of potential prosecurtorial over reach given the quantity of laws and regulations in America today. As Professor Reynolds says:
Given the vast web of legislation and regulation that exists today, virtually any American is at risk of prosecution should a prosecutor decide that they are, in Jackson’s words, a person “he should get.”That doesn't everyone will be prosecuted in such a fashion, and Professor Reynolds offers a broad overview of the problem, and a discussion of options to address it. It's written in non-legal language, and offers the lay person an idea of how Byzantine the legal system can be, and some ideas to offer to legislators on how fix it. The example involving firearms is quite recent, and is a good reason to read this.
A copy has been downloaded to our local archives, and can be found here.
