As part of an ongoing series, the Heritage Center for Legal and Judicial Studies periodically identifies a “Bill of the Week” that relates to the problem of overcriminalization in America. Our Bill of the Week segment usually highlights a piece of legislation that, due to its underlying policies, exacerbate the problem of overcriminalization. But this week we’re faced with a matter that shows why form must follow function. No reasonable person would recommend that the Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee send a bill to the Senate floor restructuring our present …
What do a legendary guitar maker and a lobster importer have in common? Both are alleged to have run afoul of the Lacey Act, one of the most egregious, overcriminalized statutes on the books. Now some Members of Congress are working to inject some much-needed fairness into the justice system. Originally enacted in 1900 as a modest law designed simply to protect states against poachers who fled across state lines, the Lacey Act today makes it a federal crime to import fish, wildlife, or plants in violation of any foreign …
Prosecution for exercising one’s free speech rights is becoming a trend in the current Administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ). In April, the Legal Center highlighted the DOJ’s outrageous prosecution of Mary Susan Pine, a pro-life advocate. Thankfully, when the rubber hit the road, the DOJ lawyers had nowhere to go, and the suit was dropped. Pine is able to continue her ministry of standing near an abortion clinic to talk to women about abortion. Julian P. Heicklen, an 80-year-old retired chemistry professor and advocate of jury nullification, found …
Imagine the police knocking on your door because you mistakenly forgot to fill out an obscure form required by foreign law before opening up a small business. Imagine your 80-year-old mother being arrested for failing to place the appropriate sticker on an otherwise properly shipped package. Imagine your cancer-stricken neighbor being criminally charged for failing to trim the shrubbery in front of their house. Or imagine your child being prosecuted for eating a French fry in a public place. Unfortunately, none of these situations is imaginary. While delivering the keynote …
Everywhere you turn, there’s no escaping the 100 year commemoration of the ill-fated voyage of the Titanic. The film is back in the theaters—in 3D no less. There are television specials and new books coming out every day this week. And Congress is passing a federal criminal law to protect the sunken ship. The latter fact might be more confounding than the reasons why “Rose” tossed her gigantic diamond necklace into the ocean at the end of the Oscar-winning 1997 film. Former Democrat Presidential Candidate and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) …
Although the Supreme Court Justices are tight-lipped, most everyone else has condemned President Obama for the attack he launched at the judiciary on Monday. Even the Washington Post editorialized that “the comments strayed perilously close to a preemptive strike on the court’s legitimacy.” On Monday, Obama – who often is described as a former professor of constitutional law – made comments that demonstrated little knowledge of the concept of judicial review, while demonstrating great contempt for proper separation of powers. Obama stated that to find his administration-defining health insurance legislation …
As part of an ongoing series, Heritage’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies identifies a “Bill of the Week” which impacts overcriminalization in America. The Contracting Oversight for Small Business Jobs Act of 2012 is a classic example of the overcriminalization of fraud. Senior Legal Fellow Paul Larkin has gone in-depth on the topic before. There are dozens of federal fraud laws on the books that are being enforced in every federal district court. Even so, Congress keeps finding ways to customize fraud for particular special interests. As Larkin quips, …
One of the three aspects of overcriminalization that we highlight in our weekly e-mail alerts is “Federalizing crime that properly belongs under state and local jurisdiction.” This edition, the first in a series entitled “Overcriminalization Bill of the Week,” contains a textbook example of such a policy mistake. The State Witness Protection Act of 2012, S. 2127, sponsored by Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), would make it a federal offense to commit a crime against a witness in state and local judicial proceedings. The enumerated crimes are “to kill, attempt to …
Everyone knows that showing up late generally is a bad idea. But is it so bad that it ought to be punished criminally? To some officials in Loudoun County, Virginia, the answer is “Yes.” In their view, the appropriate treatment for habitual tardiness is not criticism, nor ostracism, nor some other “cism,” but is being charged with a crime. A front page story in the Washington Post this Sunday called attention to the Denicores, who have brought their three children late to school on dozens of occasions since September. Loudoun …
Perhaps not so surprisingly, Washington politicians on both sides of the aisle are opposed to the recent change by Representative Eric Cantor (R–VA) and the House of Representatives in eliminating the so-called public corruption amendment that was proposed by Senators Patrick Leahy (D–VT) and John Cornyn (R–TX) and attached to the Senate-passed STOCK Act. The House version (which lacked the Leahy–Cornyn amendment) passed by a whopping 417–2 vote earlier today. Cantor and the House deserve credit—not blame—for putting good policymaking ahead of their own potential electoral considerations. As The Heritage …
