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Events • May 19, 2014 

# Mugged by the State: When Regulators and Prosecutors Bully Citizens 

The federal regulatory code has become so voluminous that it now bewilders ordinary citizens. The web of rules and regulations is now so vast that people can become ensnared in circumstances where they meant no harm. Even when there is no infraction, it can be financially ruinous to mount a legal defense against powerful agencies that seem bent on coercing a plea deal or settlement. And what about the reputations, livelihoods, and civil liberties that are sacrificed in that process? Join us for a discussion of these troubling trends and what can be done about them.

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

##### Kevin Gates 

##### William Hurwitz, M.D. 

##### Lawrence Lewis 

[![William Yeatman](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Will%20Yeatman.jpg?itok=cX7wRQR4)](/people/william-yeatman) 

##### [William Yeatman](/people/william-yeatman)

Senior Legal Fellow, Pacific Legal Foundation

[![Media Name: timlynch-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/timlynch-cropped.jpg?itok=k28xFe9B)](/people/tim-lynch) 

##### [Tim Lynch](/people/tim-lynch)

Former Adjunct Scholar and Former Director, Project on Criminal Justice 

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](https://twitter.com/CatoTimLynch) [ 

](mailto:tlynch@cato.org)