Tag Archives: count the crimes

Making Criminals Out of All Americans

Originally published at Cato Institute by Jay Schweikert | April 25, 2018
Cases: Black v. US, Weyhrauch v. US
The specific language of the Fourth Amendment was largely a product of the colonists’ experience with the noxious institution of the general warrant. Historically, general warrants—and specifically, writs of assistance—gave law enforcement broad discretion to search wherever and whatever they deemed necessary, without the need to establish specific probable cause before a judicial officer. Continue Reading

Justice Gorsuch on Overcriminalization and Arbitrary Prosecution

Originally published at Cato Institute by Jay Schweikert | April 17, 2018
That’s the opening line and general theme of Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurring opinion in Sessions v. Dimaya, announced today. In this case, Justice Gorsuch joined the Court’s four “liberals” in a 5-4 decision holding unconstitutional a provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which renders deportable any alien convicted of an “aggravated felony.” Continue Reading

Heritage Report: The Extent of America’s Overcriminalization Problem

Originally published at The Heritage Foundation by Paul Larkin Jr | 5/9/14
The Heritage Foundation and others have criticized the modern-day phenomenon known as “overcriminalization,”[1] the neologism given to the overuse and misuse of the criminal law.[2] Those criticisms have taken several forms: Legislatures pass too many statutes creating crimes (especially federal offenses); legislatures too frequently empower administrative agencies to define crimes or otherwise “fill in the blanks” in laws that can be enforced through the criminal process; legislatures too often define offenses with inadequate mens rea or scienter (“guilty mind”) requirements; and legislatures too often increase penalties for existing crimes simply to make it look as though they have done something to reduce crime. Continue Reading

Gibson Guitar Raid: Much to Fret About

Originally published at National Review by Pat Nolan
Federal prosecutors are proving themselves too highly strung. With military precision, the federal officers surrounded the building, donned flak jackets and helmets, readied their weapons, burst in, and forced terrified employees out at gunpoint. Officers ransacked the facil Continue Reading

Heritage Report: Solutions for America: Overcriminalization

Originally published at The Heritage Foundation by Marion Smith | 8/17/10
Federal criminal law has exploded in size and scope—and deteriorated in quality. Honest, hard-working Americans doing their best to be respectable, law-abiding citizens can no longer be assured that they are safe from federal prosecutors. Federal criminal law used to focus on inherently wrongful conduct: treason, murder, counterfeiting, and the like. Today, an unimaginably broad range of socially and economically beneficial conduct is criminalized. Continue Reading