In this week’s “Elon Law Now” faculty commentary series, Senior Associate Dean Alan Woodlief details a variety of laws that appear to be created for special interests and urges greater focus on the most important issues facing North Carolina.
“An article in the May 9-10 edition of the Wall Street Journal, “Fifty Shades of Red,” lamented the drastic increase in the number of federal statutes and regulations complicating our business dealings and other aspects of our daily lives. Among the statistics cited, it noted that the number of federal crimes is now above 4,450, a 50 percent increase since 1980.
“We have seen this same phenomenon in North Carolina as well. It seems that each year the North Carolina General Assembly adds dozens of new crimes to the statute books. Some, of course, are very much needed and are timely responses to the ever-creative minds of society’s criminal element. For instance, several years ago, the legislature adopted a series of laws regulating the sale of pseudoephedrine directed at curbing the production and sale of methamphetamine. The last few years have also seen the adoption of laws against human trafficking and financial transaction fraud, both warranted responses to crimes occurring all too often in our communities.
“Still, for every much-needed law like the ones above, there are others that appear to be more desired by special interest groups, than actually needed to confront a major societal concern. In many cases, there are already laws on the books that would cover such conduct, and a new law appears designed to accommodate a specific constituent or group of constituents. For instance, while larceny has long been a crime in North Carolina, punishable in most instances as a misdemeanor unless it involves special circumstances such as property valued in excess of $1,000 or the breach of a position of trust, a specific statute makes larceny of pine straw, at any value, a felony. There are similar statutes criminalizing the illegal taking of ginseng, galax, and Venus flytraps. Another prohibits the larceny of waste kitchen grease, and if worth $1,000, such theft constitutes a felony (this offense was dubiously described by Yahoo! Food as ‘one of the weirdest food laws in the country’).
“The drafting, consideration and debate of these statutes took precious time which could have been used to consider other important legislation. When they are combined with the myriad administrative regulations at the state and federal level, our law becomes increasingly byzantine, difficult for the average citizen, business owner and even lawyers and judges to navigate. A bit of circumspection in adopting new laws and regulations would be a healthy change for the legislature, government agencies, our state’s courts and citizens in general, sharpening our focus on the most important issues facing the State, including growing the economy and jobs, protecting the environment, and ensuring the general health and welfare of the citizenry.”
Information about Senior Associate Dean Alan Woodlief is available here.
“Elon Law Now” is a weekly series of commentary and analysis by members of the faculty at Elon Law.