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As recently as this year, SCOTUS has made rulings that set new legal precedent for murder (Google "Tonya Harden"). I don't even have to argue that it's specious to compare murder to environmental destruction or occupational safety to rebut that argument.

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That would be the West Virginia Supreme Court, not SCOTUS.

http://www.huntingtonnews.net/state/090605-rutherford-statet...

And in any case, arguing around the edges of self-defense is a far cry from the sort of felony paperwork violations that got us into this discussion.

So perhaps the most clarifying question I could ask is: how many examples can you find of case law criminalizing paperwork mistakes with no criminal intent or intent to harm others, as compared to how many examples of that are there in statute law?

You're right, my bad. Hopefully my point stands intact, which is that even for a cut-and-dry crime like murder, court precedent defines a fairly complex shadow law --- self defense, intent to kill, competence, etc.

Like (I think) most reasonable people, I'm not in favor of criminalizing paperwork mistakes with no criminal intent.

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