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Another federal law makes it a felony for any person…

“Another federal law makes it a felony for any person “knowingly to deliver or cause to be delivered for transmission through the mails or interstate commerce by telegraph, telephone, wireless, or other means of communication false or misleading or knowingly inaccurate reports concerning crop or…” quote by James Duane
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““Another federal law makes it a felony for any person “knowingly to deliver or cause to be delivered for transmission through the mails or interstate commerce by telegraph, telephone, wireless, or other means of communication false or misleading or knowingly inaccurate reports concerning crop or market information or conditions that affect or tend to affect the price of any commodity in interstate commerce.”21 For this “crime,” you can be fined up to one million dollars and imprisoned for up to ten years. If you are ever prosecuted for a violation of this law, the way it is written, all the government needs to do to put you behind bars is to prove that you sent anybody a single bit of inaccurate information that somehow concerned crop or commodity market information or conditions. It does not matter whether you sent that message by telephone or mail or telegraph. It does not matter who you sent that letter to. It does not matter whether the information was actually false, or merely misleading. It does not matter whether your note actually had any effect on market prices anywhere, or even whether you intended for it to have that effect. The way this law was written by the morons in Congress, you are guilty of a felony if you send a postcard to your grandmother in a nursing home, trying to make her feel better by lying about how nice the weather has been in Florida, or how low the gas prices have been. And you will not find this law in Title 18 either; this one is buried in the bowels of Title 7 (sec. 13), which lists the laws supposedly regulating “Agriculture”.””

James Duane

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The law criminalizes any false or misleading agricultural information, even trivial lies, leading to potential severe penalties.

In simple terms: Even harmless lies about crops can be a felony.

Key Takeaway

Be accurate when sharing market info.

Themes

law agriculture communication ethics

Mood

cautionary critical

Type

legal ethical

When to use this quote

  • farmers
  • media
  • advertising
  • legal compliance
  • public policy

Key Concepts

regulation misinformation penalties

Questions to Reflect On

  • Is such strict liability justified?
  • How can one avoid accidental violations?
A Different Perspective

The law’s breadth may be impractical and over‑punitive.

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