Apparently, Members of Congress have not been reading our Overcriminalization blogs. How do we know this? Because the International Fisheries Stewardship and Enforcement Act (IFSEA) is the embodiment of much of what our blogs have highlighted is wrong with legislation. The Senate sponsors of IFSEA didn’t have the votes to …
Robert Alt is director of the Rule of Law Programs and senior legal fellow at The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. He sat down with us to discuss Heritage’s Overcriminalization project. Q: How long have you been working on the Overcriminalization project? A: Five years. Overcriminalization was …
Should society throw people into jail who admittedly did nothing blameworthy just to set an example for others? That is exactly what the Center for Progressive Reform has suggested doing in a recent report on the Occupational Safety and Health Act. In criminal law, the Supreme Court has embraced what …
In a prior Foundry post, we highlighted the egregious misconduct of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Legal Enforcement in the prosecution of marine biologist Nancy Black. NOAA is criminally prosecuting her for bogus charges, including lying to investigators and feeding whales. These charges could land Black …
Nancy Black is a marine biologist who has dedicated her life to the preservation and study of whales. National Geographic and PBS have featured her work. Yet, the federal government is now prosecuting her—persecuting her would not be too strong a term—for her efforts to learn more about whales. Why? …
The Heritage Foundation has been writing about the problems that Gibson Guitar has faced for a long while now. Sadly, Gibson has bowed out of the fight due to bullying by Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors. Gibson has been strong-armed into paying a $300,000 fine and a $50,000 community service …
This session, Congress has consistently increased criminal penalties through legislation. In what type of bills are they doing it? In appropriations bills, of course. Where else would Congress increase criminal penalties? For example, in the fiscal year (FY) 2013 Foreign Relations Authorization Act, the maximum penalties for violation of Arms …
A recent poll of American voters found that their top concern is the fair and accurate ranking of professional boxers. Not really, of course, but a new bill in the House and the Senate addresses this apparently egregious problem. The Professional Boxing Amendments Act of 2012, introduced in the Senate …
