While everyone was focused on the Qatari Air Force One and President Donald Trump's prescription drug executive order, this rather important and impactful EO flew under the radar.
Until AlextheChick found it, and posted a thread.
So let's dive in:
🧵 I went looking for the actual text of the EO on prescription drug prices since no one is actually linking that and I have to do everything around here and I found this that was issued on Friday and I missed it.
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
I cannot stress how important this is.https://t.co/wuOpqoDjjt pic.twitter.com/d4LUmR6YuK
Here's why this is important.
What does this do? The most important part is that every agency has 365 days to list out all the regulations that have a criminal penalty and then that report has to be made public. Right now, there is literally no one on this planet that knows this information. No one. pic.twitter.com/AuA3TVXvt0
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
What's that adage? That we all commit three felonies a day and we're unaware of it, because there are SO MANY criminal penalties and laws?
Yeah, that.
That report must be made public and must be updated annually. pic.twitter.com/1DHZy7t6bA
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
Amazing that it wasn't.
All future regs have to state criminal offenses clearly. Mens rea is back on the menu! The default will be to require mens rea. What that means in English is that you have to know you are committing a crime, strict liability is highly disfavored. pic.twitter.com/y5uWw9LKE0
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
Everything this writer knows about mens rea she learned from 'Legally Blonde' and Alex.
Each agency has 45 days to publish guidance on how criminally liable regulatory offenses will be handled. Then clarification that this doesn't apply to immigration regs and generic catch all language. pic.twitter.com/FvJLeOxek1
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
It will also expose just how many criminally liable regulatory offenses there are, and hopefully public outcry will get that number reduced. Dramatically.
This is everything I have ever wanted on this topic. Everything. I never ever ever, not in the history of ever, thought that there would be a requirement for a report from each agency mandating that the regs with criminal liability be listed, let alone that it would be public.
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
It's a good day for law and freedom.
The shift to pursue civil over criminal first is, obviously, significant. See re: the issue of people fighting over property lines with the US government who all of a sudden were being charged with major Federal felonies. https://t.co/qruQH9123y
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
Yeah, read the story at the link. It's insane.
It also reminds this writer of the documentary she just watched, 'Dinosaur 13,' about the archaeologists who discovered Sue, the T-Rex on display at Chicago's Natural History Museum. The government swooped in and ended up charging two of the archaeologists with federal crimes for which they faced 353 years in prison.
It was insane.
And then there's the mens rea requirements. Mens rea means guilty mind. It is the doctrine that you have to have criminal intent to be charged with a crime. Let's say you grab a coat off a rack. If you thought it was your coat, that's not theft, that's a mistake.
— alexandriaRe
This is huge!
Strict liability means if you take the coat, you're guilty no matter what. Substantial portions of regs with criminal penalties attached are strict liability. Did you do the action? You are criminally liable, even if you did not know the reg existed and you had no criminal intent
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
That's so wrong.
This EO is tremendously important and will have direct, and hopefully immediate, affect on more or less everyone in America. And did you hear anything about it? Anything at all?
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
We did not.
This is one of my areas of keen interest and I missed this. This should be being shouted from the mountain tops as to how it is restoring the rights of Americans to know when they will be criminally charged, for what, and that you can't be held criminally liable for a mistake.
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
What a refreshing change of pace.
Again, this is all I could have dreamed. This is amazing. Everyone, no matter your politics, should be rejoicing over this. Have a red panda and a corgi in celegration. /fin pic.twitter.com/pxMOa8sU3r
— alexandriabrown (@alexthechick) May 12, 2025
We get a corgi AND red pandas?! This news is HUGE!
This alone is worth every negative opinion I have had about Trump and his handling of things like tariffs. https://t.co/WoZ0fVKbrm
— Sensurround (@ShamashAran) May 13, 2025
This is one of the best things President Trump will ever do.
1) Why is it not the journalistic standard to link to source documents when they exist. They will link to 10 other articles but god forbid they link to the actual EO or Court filing/ruling
— Yags (@yaghsizian) May 13, 2025
2) Kudos to Trump on this EO, this should definitely be getting more attention https://t.co/9DTytZIFSO
Which is why we're telling you about it, too.
The media certainly won't.