If you’re facing criminal charges, you may be worried about the impact on your reputation. Perhaps you’re a prominent business person or an entertainer. Maybe you’re a member of a local church. You know that simply being arrested can have a negative impact on your reputation, even if you are ultimately cleared of those charges.
You may also feel frustrated because everyone acts as if they wouldn’t do whatever it is that you were accused of doing. You feel ostracized or like you are on the outside of society. But is this correct? Or is it true, as some people say, that everyone breaks the law?
Many people don’t even know that they are committing criminal offenses
The argument has been made many times that everyone breaks the law, and one reason for this is that they may not even realize that they’ve done so. They may not know what the laws are or that they’ve crossed that line. Since ignorance of the law is not a defense, this still means that they have committed that criminal offense, whether or not they understand it.
In fact, there are many relatively serious offenses that people could commit accidentally or without realizing what they’re doing. For instance, it’s a federal offense to open someone else’s mail. You’re also breaking federal laws if you are selling raw milk and it crosses over any state lines. College students may also have committed unintentional felonies while photographing or copying their books and other materials.
These are just a few examples, but they do show you how common these types of offenses are. No matter what you’ve been accused of, it’s always important to be well aware of your defense options.