Monday, July 14, 2008

List of Federal Crimes Continues to Expand

The Heritage Foundation has issued a new report discussing the explosive increase in the number of federal crimes.

It says in part:

"The growth of federal crimes continues unabated. The increase of 452 over the eight-year period between 2000 and 2007 averages 56.5 crimes per year—roughly the same rate at which Congress cre­ated new crimes in the 1980s and 1990s. So for the past twenty-five years, a period over which the growth of the federal criminal law has come under increasing scrutiny, Congress has been creating over 500 new crimes per decade. That pace is not steady from year to year, however; the data indicate that Congress creates more criminal offenses in election years."

An appendix lists all the federal statutory provisions containing new crimes enacted between 2000 and 2007.