Thankfully, the law sometimes reflects common sense. Here’s an example: Innocent people ordinarily do not remain silent when accused of having committed a crime or some other misconduct. As the result, it is reasonable to infer that such an accusation is true if a person does not deny it. In…
Abstract: With regard to the Lacey Act, The Heritage Foundation and the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) can agree on one point: The act should be enforced through the civil justice system or the administrative process. In a recent paper, however, the UCS has…
An article by Jon Adler at the Police: The Law Enforcement Magazine Website,[1] 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…
How did a law originally enacted to target poaching of migratory birds evolve to authorize an armed raid of a guitar factory in search of wooden veneers imported without the proper paperwork? The Lacey Act was the first federal wildlife conservation statute, narrowly targeted at the interstate sale in poached…
Paul Larkin discusses over-criminalization on CBN. …
Abstract: Under the Lacey Act, it is a federal offense to import fish, wildlife, or plants “in violation of any foreign law.” Such legislation violates one of the fundamental tenets of Anglo–American common law: that “men of common intelligence” must be able to understand…
Abstract: From the ever-expanding number of federal criminal laws to prison sentences that are too numerous or too long, there are many promising bases for criticizing overcriminalization. One such basis, however, has yet to be fully considered: the fact that too many criminal offenses today are malum prohibitumoffenses—that is, they…
Abstract: Are maple syrup felons sufficiently heinous that they should be imprisoned for perhaps as long as 45 years? Some members of the U.S. Senate seem to believe the answer is yes: How else to explain the provisions of the Maple Agriculture Protection and…
Testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security December 13, 2011 Edwin Meese IIIChairman, Center for Legal & Judicial StudiesThe Heritage…
Abstract: The past 75 years in America have witnessed an avalanche of new criminal laws, the result of which is a problem known as “overcriminalization.” This phenomenon is likely to lead to a variety of problems for a public trying to comply with the law in good faith. While many…
Abstract: Although the Constitution’s great structural principles of federalism and separation of powers are designed to guard against the abuse of governmental power and secure individual liberty, Congress routinely flouts these constitutional safeguards by enacting vague, overly broad, and other improper and unconstitutional criminal…
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THE ISSUE: 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…
America is in the throes of “overcriminalization.”We are making and enforcing far too many criminal laws that create traps for the innocent but unwary, and threaten to turn otherwise respectable, law-abiding citizens into criminals. Consider a few examples from the new…
Numerous Heritage research papers and postings on The Foundry in the past year have reported on the plight of Gibson...…
As part of an ongoing series, the Heritage Center for Legal and Judicial Studies periodically identifies a “Bill of the...…
The law sometimes reflects common sense. Consider this example: Innocent people don’t remain silent when accused of a...…
What do a legendary guitar maker and a lobster importer have in common? Both are alleged to have run afoul of the...…
Imagine the police knocking on your door because you mistakenly forgot to fill out an obscure form required by foreign...…
As part of an ongoing series, Heritage's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies identifies a "Bill of the Week" which...…
One of the three aspects of overcriminalization that we highlight in our weekly e-mail alerts is “Federalizing crime...…
Armed federal agents raided Gibson Guitar's Nashville headquarters in August, creating a national outcry over the...…
Everyone knows that showing up late generally is a bad idea. But is it so bad that it ought to be punished criminally? ...…
The Senate is currently considering the addition of a public corruption bill as an amendment to the STOCK Act. While...…
Senior Legal Research Fellow