NCJ Number
155168
Journal
Policy Analysis Issue: 229 Dated: (June 1, 1995) Pages: complete issue
Date Published
1995
Length
41 pages
Annotation
The 1995 crime bills introduced by the Republican Party in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate continue the unfortunate past trends in Federal crime control policies while adding unprecedented provisions that would threaten freedom and undermine the fair administration of justice.
Abstract
The everyday crime that disrupts life in the United States is largely a local problem that is best handled by State and local law enforcement agencies. However, Congress in recent years, in an effort to be regarded as taking action against crime, has been federalizing vast areas of criminal law, creating more regulatory crimes, and producing a huge prosecutorial bureaucracy. The crime bills introduced by the Republicans would make matters worse. The Senate crime bill would give Federal prosecutors the power to have their opposing counsel indicted, without any finding of misconduct by the court, whenever the prosecutor claims that opposing counsel made a false statement of fact or law in written arguments filed in opposition to the government. The Senate bill would exempt Federal prosecutors from the rules of legal ethnic and enable Federal agents to detain and interrogate citizens for weeks or months. Both the Senate and House bills would enable Federal agents to invade homes, raid businesses, and conduct humiliating body searches without legal justification, while using the evidence collected through these illegal searches. Reference notes