BRETT TOLMAN: Mountain runner facing prison for using trail bureaucrats secretly deemed off-limits

Picture this you lace up your shoes take a breath of fresh mountain air and hit the trail in the Grand Tetons National Park You complete a legendary speed record in the world of ultra-running and fellow runners are celebrating you Then you re slapped with a federal crime Sounds like a joke right Sadly it s real and it s happening now to Michelino Sunseri a -year-old bartender and record-setting mountain runner Sunseri ran a trail that hundreds if not thousands before him had done he took a well-worn trail one that s been used for decades by hikers climbers and runners alike There was no gate No park ranger stopping people Just a tiny sign about erosion half-hidden in the sagebrush But that was enough for the National Park Arrangement to charge him with a federal crime BIG BLOW TO BIG REGIME MAJOR SCOTUS DECISION STRIPS POWER OF FACELESS LEVIATHAN OF FEDERAL AGENCIESNow Sunseri is looking at up to in fines a doable six months in federal prison and worst of all a permanent criminal record To add insult to injury he could also be banned from the Grand Tetons National Park the mountains he loves for the next five years This isn t justice This is overcriminalization Sunseri should not be a criminal He didn t vandalize or hurt anyone He ran a trail He did not damage the trail and he was open about it He posted his record-breaking run on a digital app and that s when administration bureaucrats decided to make an example of him When federal bureaucrats act as lawmaker judge and jury there s little any of us can do As a former federal prosecutor I can tell you that the Department of Justice wins of its cases And too often there is no common sense no grace no understanding Just raw unchecked power And here s the truth it can happen to you When the governing body creates a maze of vague rules and hidden signs and then prosecutes people who violate them without knowing and without intent it s not justice It s about power and control CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINIONSunseri s matter is a warning to all of us It shows what happens when Americans are expected to follow rules they can t even see No one in the entire federal executive keeps track of them all but we estimate there are more than federal statutes and regulations that carry federal criminal penalties And remember once convicted of a federal crime there is no expungement of your record Even if you re pardoned your criminal record follows you for a lifetime and prevents opportunities for housing training and employment Sunseri s development isn t about a trail It s about the growing divide between everyday citizens and an out-of-touch bureaucracy that thinks it knows best It s about the erosion of liberty in the name of governing body authority We cannot sit back and let this continue Cabinet overreach is real and this event is Exhibit A We need laws written by elected lawmakers not unaccountable federal agencies We need clarity not hidden signs and gotcha rules And above all we need a justice system that remembers the difference between a criminal and a man who just loves to run in the mountains where he lives CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM BRETT TOLMAN