On his last full day in office, President Donald Trump issued an executive order attacking the scourge of federal overcriminalization. From the text: In the interest of fairness, Federal criminal law should be clearly written so that all Americans can understand what is prohibited and act accordingly. Some statutes have authorized executive branch agencies to… Continue Reading
On October 29, 2020, the Arkansas Supreme Court issued an opinion limiting the power of administrative agencies to interpret statutory law in American Honda Motor Co. v. Walther. Following up on their April 2020 opinion in Myers v. Yamato Kogyo Co., the court rejected the state agency’s interpretation of “business income,” stating that “Simply put,… Continue Reading
On Monday, Bloomberg Law’s ‘United States Law Week’ section published a compelling column on overcriminalization by former U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman. In the piece, Tolman describes the broader problem of overcriminalization and also the specific issue of prosecuting individuals for violating administrative interpretations that Congress never passed into law. An excerpt: A federal prosecution needs… Continue Reading
Another OIA-recognized Leader in overcriminalization reform, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, is hosting an online symposium on criminal sentencing from October 19-22. Although sentencing is not directly related to mens rea and related topics explored here on OIA, the event features legal luminaries from across the political and ideological spectrum that should pique… Continue Reading
At 1pm ET on Tuesday October 6, the Due Process Institute (DPI)–one of the Leaders OIA salutes in the fight against overcriminalization–and its sister organization Clause 40 Foundation are co-hosting a free webinar entitled “Two Views: An Exploration of SCOTUS’s Criminal Law Docket.” The event will feature commentary from two esteemed veterans of SCOTUS litigation,… Continue Reading
Every year on September 17, the Cato Institute puts on a great all-day program celebrating Constitution Day. Geared for lawyers but interesting to anyone concerned with the state of American law, the event focuses on the most compelling cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. The day features several different panels focused on themes the Court… Continue Reading
The Washington Legal Foundation published a Legal Backgrounder by white-collar defense attorney John Lauro on July 16. The article discusses the application of the Chevron doctrine in the criminal law context. In particular, Mr. Lauro analyzes judicial rulings on deferring to agency’s interpretation of a statute and a recent Justice Department policy that henceforth, agency… Continue Reading
On March 5, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated the conviction of Doctor Richard Paulus and released him from prison where he was serving a draconian five-year sentence because the federal prosecutor withheld key exculpatory evidence the jury should have considered in deciding whether to convict him. The court ruled… Continue Reading
By Joe Luppino-Esposito Director | Rule of Law Initiatives | Due Process Institute The Department of the Interior and its Fish and Wildlife Service (Fish & Wildlife) have proposed to change their interpretation of a century-old treaty to reflect one of the most basic principles of criminal law. While it may seem obscure to most… Continue Reading
The federal criminal code has been part of United States law since the First U.S. Congress. The country’s first criminal code featured laws that addressed a mere 30 crimes, in part because the Framers of the Constitution believed that a large criminal code would compromise the United States’ hard-won freedom and the liberties of its… Continue Reading