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 …
The law sometimes reflects common sense. Consider this example: Innocent people don’t remain silent when accused of a crime or misconduct; they deny it. Accordingly, it is reasonable to infer that such an accusation is true if someone doesn’t scream, “Not me. I didn’t do it.” In the law that is known as a “tacit admission.” Keep that point in mind for a minute. A current law, the Lacey Act, makes it a crime to import wildlife or plants in violation of any foreign law – however obscure, however unintelligible, …
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 Originally enacted in 1900 as a modest law designed simply to protect states against poachers who fled across state lines, the Lacey Act today makes it a federal crime to import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 …
An article by Jon Adler at “Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine,” (Last viewed Apr. 11, 2012), written on behalf of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA) is quite critical of the recently-introduced Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures (FOCUS) Act of 2012. The thrust of the article is that the FOCUS Act would put federal officers and agents at risk by taking away their right to carry firearms in the course of their criminal law enforcement duties. That claim, in short, is a canard. Because the Heritage Foundation published …
“Hallelujah” overstates the point, but we are pleased that the Senate on Thursday accepted the revisions to the STOCK Act made by the House of Representatives. As Heritage explained in two earlier Issue Briefs on this subject, the additional public corruption provisions that the Senate initially wanted to include in the bill gave rise to a batch of different potential overcriminalization issues. Some of them were definitional problems that, perhaps, could have been remedied by redrafting the bill. If Congress is going to outlaw conduct and send people to prison …
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. Not every Bill of the Week represents an unwise policy judgment. This week we celebrate a bill entitled “The Freedom from Over-Criminalization and Unjust Seizures Act of 2012” (the FOCUS Act), a measure that protects Americans from liability for violating foreign laws that they likely wouldn’t even know is a crime. Senator Rand Paul (R–KY) introduced the FOCUS Act in the Senate, and Representative Paul C. …
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued an important ruling on the subject of surveillance in light of today’s technologies. Its opinion in United States v. Jones makes the rules for surveillance much less clear, which perhaps is not surprising given the rapid technological change and the need for further legislative and judicial action to address these complex new issues. Law enforcement long has used surveillance to track the comings and goings of suspects, probationers, and parolees as well as suspected spies, terrorists, and the like. Surveillance was oftentimes necessary and …
Today the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Sackett v. EPA, one of the most important property rights cases to reach the Court in recent history. The case involves a complicated statutory scheme created by the Clean Water Act (CWA), which (as relevant here) is enforced by the EPA. In brief, the CWA seeks to protect the “navigable waters of the United States” against pollution. What makes this case interesting and entertaining (at least for observers) is that the EPA has interpreted the term “navigable waters” to include in …
Critics of the Supreme Court of the United States sometimes say that the Court is hopelessly divided on the issues and does not mean what it says in its opinions. But a decision handed down today helps put the lie to both criticisms. Not only was the Court unanimous, but it also made clear that it means what it has been saying – repeatedly – over the past decade: namely, federal courts cannot grant habeas corpus relief to a state prisoner if the state courts’ decision to deny him relief …
The Supreme Court today granted review in related cases that raise the question whether Congress had the power to adopt the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – known colloquially as ObamaCare – health regulatory scheme and, if not, what components of that law must fall and can survive. The Court granted the petitions for writs of certiorari in three separate cases – one filed by the National Federation of Independent Businesses (No. 11-393), one filed by the states No. 11-400), and one filed by the federal government (No. 11-398). …
