Latest news with #Sunseri
New York Post
14-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Trump strikes a righteous blow against the feds' rabid criminal code
After mountain runner Michelino Sunseri ascended and descended Grand Teton in record time last fall, his corporate sponsor, The North Face, heralded his achievement as 'an impossible dream — come true.' Then came the nightmare: Federal prosecutors charged Sunseri with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail for using a trail that the National Park Service described as closed, although it had never bothered to clearly inform the public of that designation. Sunseri unwittingly violated one of the myriad federal regulations that carry criminal penalties — a body of law so vast and obscure that no one knows exactly how many offenses it includes. Advertisement An executive order that President Donald Trump issued last week aims to ameliorate the injustices caused by the proliferation of such agency-defined crimes, which turn the rule of law into a cruel joke. The Code of Federal Regulations 'contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages — far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand,' Trump's order notes. 'Worse, many [regulations] carry potential criminal penalties for violations.' Advertisement How many? As Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and co-author Janie Nitze note in their 2024 book on 'the human toll of too much law,' even experts cannot say for sure, although 'estimates suggest that at least 300,000 federal agency regulations carry criminal sanctions today.' At the federal level, in other words, regulatory crimes outnumber statutory crimes — another uncertain tally — by a factor of roughly 60 to 1. Since the latter category has exploded during the last century, that is no small feat, but it is what you might expect when unaccountable bureaucrats are free to invent crimes. Advertisement 'Many of these regulatory crimes are 'strict liability' offenses, meaning that citizens need not have a guilty mental state to be convicted of a crime,' Trump notes. 'This status quo is absurd and unjust. It allows the executive branch to write the law, in addition to executing it.' Trump said prosecutors generally should eschew criminal charges for regulatory violations based on strict liability and focus on cases where the evidence suggests the defendant knowingly broke the rules. Trump also instructed federal agencies to 'explicitly describe' conduct subject to criminal punishment under new regulations, and prepare lists of regulatory violations that already can be treated as crimes. Advertisement Given the enormous volume and range of federal regulations, that last requirement is a tall order. But if the agencies that issue those regulations cannot specify all of the violations that can trigger criminal penalties, what hope does the average American have? Those penalties may not be readily apparent, because 'you need to consult at least two provisions of law to identify regulatory crimes,' GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, explained in Senate testimony this month. A regulation that says 'Swiss cheese must have holes throughout the cheese,' for example, says nothing about criminal prosecution, which is authorized by a separate provision of the US Code. Canaparo noted other examples gathered by Mike Chase, author of the comical yet accurate book 'How to Become a Federal Criminal.' It is a federal crime, for instance, 'to sell a tufted mattress unless you have burned 9 cigarettes on the tufted part of it,' 'to submit a design to the Federal Duck Stamp contest if your design does not primarily feature 'eligible waterfowl,'' and 'to sell a small ball across state lines unless it is marked with a warning that says, 'this toy is a small ball.'' Advertisement Getting a handle on this bewildering situation will require more than prosecutorial restraint, a matter of discretion that is subject to change at any time. Canaparo argues that Congress should eliminate 'excess federal crimes,' add mens rea ('guilty mind') requirements to provisions that lack them, and recognize a defense for people who did not realize their conduct was unlawful. As he notes, rampant overcriminalization makes a mockery of the old adage that 'ignorance of the law is no excuse.' Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason magazine.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The Federal Government's 175,000 Pages of Regulations Turn the Rule of Law Into a Cruel Joke
After mountain runner Michelino Sunseri ascended and descended Grand Teton in record time last fall, his corporate sponsor, The North Face, heralded his achievement as "an impossible dream—come true." Then came the nightmare: Federal prosecutors charged Sunseri with a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail for using a trail that the National Park Service described as closed, although it had never bothered to clearly inform the public of that designation. Sunseri unwittingly violated one of the myriad federal regulations that carry criminal penalties—a body of law so vast and obscure that no one knows exactly how many offenses it includes. An executive order that President Donald Trump issued last week aims to ameliorate the injustices caused by the proliferation of such agency-defined crimes, which turn the rule of law into a cruel joke. The Code of Federal Regulations "contains over 48,000 sections, stretching over 175,000 pages—far more than any citizen can possibly read, let alone fully understand," Trump's order notes. "Worse, many [regulations] carry potential criminal penalties for violations." How many? As Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and co-author Janie Nitze note in their 2024 book on "the human toll of too much law," even experts cannot say for sure, although "estimates suggest that at least 300,000 federal agency regulations carry criminal sanctions today." At the federal level, in other words, regulatory crimes outnumber statutory crimes—another uncertain tally—by a factor of roughly 60 to 1. Since the latter category has exploded during the last century, that is no small feat, but it is what you might expect when unaccountable bureaucrats are free to invent crimes. "Many of these regulatory crimes are 'strict liability' offenses, meaning that citizens need not have a guilty mental state to be convicted of a crime," Trump notes. "This status quo is absurd and unjust. It allows the executive branch to write the law, in addition to executing it." Trump said prosecutors generally should eschew criminal charges for regulatory violations based on strict liability and focus on cases where the evidence suggests the defendant knowingly broke the rules. Trump also instructed federal agencies to "explicitly describe" conduct subject to criminal punishment under new regulations and prepare lists of regulatory violations that already can be treated as crimes. Given the enormous volume and range of federal regulations, that last requirement is a tall order. But if the agencies that issue those regulations cannot specify all of the violations that can trigger criminal penalties, what hope does the average American have? Those penalties may not be readily apparent, because "you need to consult at least two provisions of law to identify regulatory crimes," GianCarlo Canaparo, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation, explained in Senate testimony this month. A regulation that says "Swiss cheese must have holes throughout the cheese," for example, says nothing about criminal prosecution, which is authorized by a separate provision of the U.S. Code. Canaparo noted other examples gathered by Mike Chase, author of the comical yet accurate book How to Become a Federal Criminal. It is a federal crime, for instance, "to sell a tufted mattress unless you have burned 9 cigarettes on the tufted part of it," "to submit a design to the Federal Duck Stamp contest if your design does not primarily feature 'eligible waterfowl,'" and "to sell a small ball across state lines unless it is marked with a warning that says, 'this toy is a small ball.'" Getting a handle on this bewildering situation will require more than prosecutorial restraint, a matter of discretion that is subject to change at any time. Canaparo argues that Congress should eliminate "excess federal crimes," add mens rea ("guilty mind") requirements to provisions that lack them, and recognize a defense for people who did not realize their conduct was unlawful. As he notes, rampant overcriminalization makes a mockery of the old adage that "ignorance of the law is no excuse." © Copyright Creators Syndicate Inc. The post The Federal Government's 175,000 Pages of Regulations Turn the Rule of Law Into a Cruel Joke appeared first on
USA Today
16-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Nico Iamaleava will have former Tennessee assistant as OC at UCLA
Nico Iamaleava will have former Tennessee assistant as OC at UCLA UCLA will kick off its 2025 football season on Aug. 30 versus Utah at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The Bruins will have Nico Iamaleava at quarterback in 2025, according to Colin Cowherd, after transferring from Tennessee. The 6-foot-6, 220-pound redshirt sophomore quarterback entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday, the first day of the spring window. Tino Sunseri enters his first season as UCLA's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He served as a quality control assistant for the Vols in 2018 under then-head coach Jeremy Pruitt. After departing Tennessee, Sunseri served as a graduate assistant at Alabama (2019-20), quarterbacks coach at James Madison (2021-23) and co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Indiana in 2024. He won a national championship at Alabama in 2020 and appeared in the College Football Playoff with the Hoosiers last season. Sunseri played quarterback at Pittsburgh from 2008-12. His father, Sal Sunseri, served as Tennessee's defensive coordinator in 2012 under then-head coach Derek Dooley. PHOTOS: Tennessee-UCLA football series Follow Vols Wire on Facebook and X.
Yahoo
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
How UCLA coach DeShaun Foster was able to recruit Tino Sunseri to overhaul his offense
Tino Sunseri would do whatever was needed in the equipment room. Folding towels, putting away laundry — the nature of the task didn't matter so long as it allowed the teenager to be near his father, Sal, the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers. One of the perks of hanging around an NFL locker room was meeting the players. Among those who took an immediate liking to the boy was DeShaun Foster, the new running back out of UCLA. Advertisement 'He would come up to you as a young kid that looked up to all these NFL players, that was having all the success, and would take the time to be able to talk to you, spend time with you and was really, really genuine,' Sunseri said Saturday, more than two decades after first crossing paths with Foster during the 2002 season. 'So when it came to him and our relationship, he was somebody that I knew whenever I walked in the building I felt like I had a friendship with.' Read more: UCLA opens spring football workouts with all 19 transfers in place They did not remain in contact after Foster left the Panthers before the 2008 season, Sunseri going on to play quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh while Foster finished his career with the San Francisco 49ers and began his ascent up the coaching ranks. The next time the men saw one another was last fall, when they hugged after Sunseri's Indiana Hoosiers defeated Foster's Bruins at the Rose Bowl. But the embrace felt like two old friends reconnecting. Advertisement Foster was impressed enough with Sunseri's work helping Indiana reach the College Football Playoff that he asked the Hoosiers' co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to take on a similar role with the Bruins, becoming their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After assessing that opportunity in addition to a handful of other job offers, Sunseri decided to share a locker room with his pal once more. Quarterback coordinator Tino Sunseri stands on the sideline during a game between Indiana and Purdue on Nov. 30, 2024. (Justin Casterline / Getty Images) What drew him to UCLA was Foster's emphasis on his players. 'Helping them grow, helping them learn, helping them evolve, making sure that they're gonna be able to understand that life after football was more important than football itself,' Sunseri said, repeating Foster's beliefs, 'because what you're going to be doing for 40 years is different than four [while in school], but being able to make sure that we're gonna be able to give them the best chance and opportunity to fulfill their dreams.' Advertisement While this will be Sunseri's first time running an offense, he said he was heavily involved in every pass play call last season as part of a collaborative approach with Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan (no relation to the former NFL coach). What will the Bruins' offense look like in 2025? Sunseri said it would resemble the philosophy of former boss Curt Cignetti, who relies on high efficiency from his quarterback as well as pre- and post-snap motion to generate open receivers. Indiana's offense produced an average of 41.3 points and 426.4 yards per game last season, far exceeding the 18.4 points and 328.8 yards that UCLA manufactured under Eric Bieniemy. 'We're gonna put the defense in a lot of turmoil,' Sunseri said, 'of how to be able to understand shifting, motioning, being able to make sure that they have to guard every blade of grass horizontally as they do vertically.' UCLA's offense was heavy on short passes Saturday during the first practice of the spring open to the public. Presumed starting quarterback Joey Aguilar and his backups repeatedly targeted the tight ends, with Jack Pedersen and Dylan Sims among the leading pass catchers. Advertisement Citing a principle that helped Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke to complete 69.4% of his passes last season for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns with only five interceptions, Sunseri said the quarterbacks' approach reflected the defense's soft coverage. One of the few times Aguilar challenged the defense by firing a deep pass into coverage, it was intercepted by defensive back Ben Perry. 'The biggest thing that these quarterbacks have to be able to learn in college football,' Sunseri said, 'is that you need to be needy, not greedy. A lot of these defenses make a lot of plays because the quarterback just makes a bad decision.' Sunseri, 36, literally matched his quarterbacks step for step during one rollout drill in which the coach simulated a defender in pursuit while demonstrating the proper mechanics on their throws. Read more: Did UCLA's DeShaun Foster reload roster? Five questions going into spring practice Advertisement 'He's Sicilian and he's fiery,' Foster said of the coach who's easy to spot because of his striking pompadour. 'He's just a guy that expects a lot out of his players.' Relishing his Italian heritage — 'Sicilians, we're at the bottom of the boot, if you don't know,' he said — Sunseri told the story of how working as a bus boy at the family restaurant, Bella Notte, gave him the motivation to make something more out of himself. Now he's got a two-year contract that will pay him at least $1.3 million this season in salary and bonuses. All because an old friend wanted to help him forge a new beginning. 'It's awesome,' Sunseri said of reconnecting with Foster. 'I can't thank him enough for the opportunity." Advertisement Read more: UCLA offensive coordinator Tino Sunseri's annual compensation will top $1 million Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
06-04-2025
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
How UCLA coach DeShaun Foster was able to recruit Tino Sunseri to overhaul his offense
Tino Sunseri would do whatever was needed in the equipment room. Folding towels, putting away laundry — the nature of the task didn't matter so long as it allowed the teenager to be near his father, Sal, the defensive line coach for the Carolina Panthers. One of the perks of hanging around an NFL locker room was meeting the players. Among those who took an immediate liking to the boy was DeShaun Foster, the new running back out of UCLA. 'He would come up to you as a young kid that looked up to all these NFL players, that was having all the success, and would take the time to be able to talk to you, spend time with you and was really, really genuine,' Sunseri said Saturday, more than two decades after first crossing paths with Foster during the 2002 season. 'So when it came to him and our relationship, he was somebody that I knew whenever I walked in the building I felt like I had a friendship with.' They did not remain in contact after Foster left the Panthers before the 2008 season, Sunseri going on to play quarterback at the University of Pittsburgh while Foster finished his career with the San Francisco 49ers and began his ascent up the coaching ranks. The next time the men saw one another was last fall, when they hugged after Sunseri's Indiana Hoosiers defeated Foster's Bruins at the Rose Bowl. But the embrace felt like two old friends reconnecting. Foster was impressed enough with Sunseri's work helping Indiana reach the College Football Playoff that he asked the Hoosiers' co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach to take on a similar role with the Bruins, becoming their offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. After assessing that opportunity in addition to a handful of other job offers, Sunseri decided to share a locker room with his pal once more. What drew him to UCLA was Foster's emphasis on his players. 'Helping them grow, helping them learn, helping them evolve, making sure that they're gonna be able to understand that life after football was more important than football itself,' Sunseri said, repeating Foster's beliefs, 'because what you're going to be doing for 40 years is different than four [while in school], but being able to make sure that we're gonna be able to give them the best chance and opportunity to fulfill their dreams.' While this will be Sunseri's first time running an offense, he said he was heavily involved in every pass play call last season as part of a collaborative approach with Indiana offensive coordinator Mike Shanahan (no relation to the former NFL coach). What will the Bruins' offense look like in 2025? Sunseri said it would resemble the philosophy of former boss Curt Cignetti, who relies on high efficiency from his quarterback as well as pre- and post-snap motion to generate open receivers. Indiana's offense produced an average of 41.3 points and 426.4 yards per game last season, far exceeding the 18.4 points and 328.8 yards that UCLA manufactured under Eric Bieniemy. 'We're gonna put the defense in a lot of turmoil,' Sunseri said, 'of how to be able to understand shifting, motioning, being able to make sure that they have to guard every blade of grass horizontally as they do vertically.' UCLA's offense was heavy on short passes Saturday during the first practice of the spring open to the public. Presumed starting quarterback Joey Aguilar and his backups repeatedly targeted the tight ends, with Jack Pedersen and Dylan Sims among the leading pass catchers. Citing a principle that helped Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke to complete 69.4% of his passes last season for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns with only five interceptions, Sunseri said the quarterbacks' approach reflected the defense's soft coverage. One of the few times Aguilar challenged the defense by firing a deep pass into coverage, it was intercepted by defensive back Ben Perry. 'The biggest thing that these quarterbacks have to be able to learn in college football,' Sunseri said, 'is that you need to be needy, not greedy. A lot of these defenses make a lot of plays because the quarterback just makes a bad decision.' Sunseri, 36, literally matched his quarterbacks step for step during one rollout drill in which the coach simulated a defender in pursuit while demonstrating the proper mechanics on their throws. 'He's Sicilian and he's fiery,' Foster said of the coach who's easy to spot because of his striking pompadour. 'He's just a guy that expects a lot out of his players.' Relishing his Italian heritage — 'Sicilians, we're at the bottom of the boot, if you don't know,' he said — Sunseri told the story of how working as a bus boy at the family restaurant, Bella Notte, gave him the motivation to make something more out of himself. Now he's got a two-year contract that will pay him at least $1.3 million this season in salary and bonuses. All because an old friend wanted to help him forge a new beginning. 'It's awesome,' Sunseri said of reconnecting with Foster. 'I can't thank him enough for the opportunity.'
