When Possession of Nothing is a "Crime"

by Will Grigg
Jan. 29, 2014

A crime is an act of conscious aggression against the person or property of another individual. An act that doesn't inflict a demonstrable injury is not a crime. Very few of the acts or omissions criminalized by the government meet that description. Indeed, existing criminal codes seem to have been created for the purpose of criminalizing the mere act of existence.

Last November, Norman Gurley was arrested in Ohio for the supposed offense of carrying nothing in his automobile. Gurley had purchased the car from someone else, who had retrofitted the vehicle with several hidden compartments. The Ohio legislature has banned such compartments on the grounds that they can be used to smuggle narcotics and other contraband. Nothing was found in the compartments in Gurley's vehicle, which were discovered during a warrantless and unjustified search carried out by a state trooper.

The absurdity of arresting a man for the possession of nothing should have inspired the repeal of that Ohio law. Instead, it inspired a copycat measure in the Virginia Legislature, which would expand the evil practice of highway robbery by police in the form of “asset forfeiture.”

Criminally minded people are distressingly commonplace, but the most ruthless and successful are those found in politics and law enforcement.