The 175,000 Pages of Federal Regulations Make a Mockery of the Term ‘Rule of Law’

The “rule of law” is a phrase that Americans utter almost like a prayer. We claim to live by “the rule of law,” but what exactly does that mean?

The “Code of Federal Regulations” contains 48,000 sections spanning 175,000 pages. Each and every one of those regulations is backed by the full force of law. An estimated (because no one wants to spend their life calculating it) 300,000 federal regulations carry criminal penalties for violating them.

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Ignorance of the law is not a defense. That’s why we constantly read about silly enforcement actions like the biker who rode up and down Grand Teton only to be charged with a misdemeanor for riding on a closed trail, even though the National Park Service neglected

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