I would think that the word "crime," by definition, would mean violation of a law. Even if one considers it a "victimless" crime, or an act that one does not believe should be against the law.

When I saw the thread title, my immediate reaction was completely opposite to Dick's take, and to the angle most respondants here have expressed. (Of course, I didn't know who was being quoted.)

My first thought was not of privileged insiders getting away with shady practices, but rather of outsiders and/or innocents getting busted for violating laws of questionable validity: demonstrators practicing civil disobedience, pot smokers, consenting-adult sex "offenders," even users of alcohol during prohibition.

Then, as I read further down the page and the discussion moved along to consider negligence, criminal or otherwise, in design and construction, I couldn't help but think of the fraud and incompence we've learned about in regard to the faulty contruction and maintenance of levees in and around New Orleans, causing the destruction of over 80,000 residences, plenty of businesses, and huge amounts of public infrastructure, back in August 2005. And of the morally questionable, if not criminal, coverup currently being perpetrated by the American Society of Civil Engineers on behalf of the Army Corps or Engineers.

If you are interested, or if you think I'm talking shit, please refer to www.levees.org.