Book Review: Mugged By The State

A former reporter writes a scathing book about innocent citizens who find themselves overwhelmed by draconian laws -- many of them land use and environmental.

1 minute read

November 12, 2003, 9:00 AM PST

By Chris Steins @planetizen


"Over 20 years as a reporter for Reader's Digest, Fitzgerald wrote stories about innocent people who found themselves mistakenly entangled with unforgiving environmental regulations, draconian drug laws, or coldhearted, uncompromising bureaucrats. With the sober, detailed eye of a journalist, Fitzgerald's book recounts the most egregious of his encounters in two decades as a reporter... You'll read about a farmer who had the misfortune of allowing a certain kind of endangered snail to find its way onto his property. Now, not only is the farmer prohibited from developing his own land, the federal government has told him he must spend his own money to ensure the snail's survival. If EPA officials find remnants of the snails in geese or ducks trapped in the area, for example, the farmer can be fined $5,000 for each ingested snail."

Thanks to PreservingtheAmericanDream Listserv

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