How does a free society transform into a police state? Americans have been watching it happen for a long time now; lawmakers at all levels continue to add laws and penalties. Enforcement agencies are called on to enforce whatever is declared illegal. The rest of us must traverse our daily activities, often completely unaware that we are breaking some law or another. The result is that we are each at the whim of the criminal justice system. We can be arrested for laws we didn't know existed, and punished at levels designed for career criminals.

To illustrate what a ridiculous quandry we all face, I've pulled together new items from just a couple of days.

Guilty of wearing a crooked cap?
For refusing to straighten his cap, 17-year-old Marlon Morgan, was handcuffed and taken first to the school office, where he was suspended for three days, then to jail. Marlon plays on the school basketball team and, after school, works at a nearby Boys & Girls Club, watching kids as they play outside. Last year, Marlon was nominated by the club's Rose Lane branch for Youth of the Year.

Guilty of solemnizing without a license?
Two Unitarian Universalist ministers were charged Monday for marrying 13 same-sex couples, thrusting the clergy into the legal battle over gay marriage in New York.

Guilty of smelling illegal?
Renard Powers is a typical 16-year-old. A "B" student, he's in school chorus, and spends most of his free time on his computer. During a routine drug check, a police dog indicated that his backpack smelled like marijuana and cocaine. They did not find any drugs but suspended Renard and charged him with passive participation. The school calls it part of its zero-tolerance policy.

Taxpayers guilty of wrongful death?
Yet another twist in the case of Bill Janklow, South Dakota congressman and former SD governor, convicted in December of second-degree manslaughter, reckless driving, speeding and running a stop sign, hitting and killing a motorcyclist. U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger has decided that Janklow was "on duty" at the time of the incident, so the trial should be federal, and taxpayers will be on the hook for any civil damages resulting from a wrongful death lawsuit that is pending.

Guilty of not buying ice?
An Alabama man ordered a cup of ice in a shop, thinking the price was 25 cents. When he was charged $2.65, he argued, and tried to leave the ice and the store. A police officer demanded that he pay for the ice. When he refused, he was arrested and later found guilty of disorderly conduct. He appealed to a higher court and was acquitted, but his legal costs were about $4,500.

Guilty of vinyl siding?
The city council of Carmel Indiana is considering banning vinyl and aluminum siding on homes built in their jurisdiction, a ruling that would conflict with state building codes. "The market in Carmel doesn't support most of these materials anymore, is what seems to be the general consensus," Mayor Jim Brainard said... which begs the question "If the market doesn't support those sidings, why prohibit them?"

Guilty of testing positive
Our splendid Congress will consider the Drug Impaired Driving Enforcement Act, which would encourage states to adopt a national model law for drug-impaired driving. The level considered impaired would be any level greater than zero. Anyone with a detectable level of illegal drugs, meaning anyone who smokes marijuana at all, would be considered impaired.

Guilty of not having a c-section?
A woman is being charged with murder in Utah, with the prosecution charging that she refused to have a C-section, which resulted in the death of one of the twins she gave birth to. The woman, who has had two previous c-sections, denies that she refused.

Guilty of not sending their kid to school?
In a dramatic enforcement of Georgia's mandatory school attendance law, Jolene's parents, William and Betty England, were arrested in January and charged by Gwinnett County school police with failing to send their daughter to school.
 
The Englands, who say they have doctors' excuses for most of their daughter's time away from the classroom, face 23 counts of the misdemeanor charge - one charge for each unexcused absence. A police incident report claims that school officials have excuses for only seven absences. Both parents have spent a night in jail.

Guilty of telling lies
Are you aware that it is against the law to lie to or deceive any federal official?

This last guilt is, of course, no longer news to Martha Stewart, but it's particularly ironic considering the number of lies that were told by officials of the current administration in order to justify taking us into the War in Iraq.

Most of such ridiculous laws come into being in a feeble attempt to stop some specific activity, but once on the books become applied to all of us, in situations not anticipated by lawmakers. Our criminal justice system has become an unthinking, by-the-book prosecution engine, filling our prisons with people who have harmed nobody else. The root problem underlying this tragic, ever-tightening noose around our necks lies with elected officials who believe they have an absolute right FORCE their views on others.