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'Reining in Overcriminalization' (federal edition)

On average, the US Congress creates 56 new federal crimes per year, and many of them are written broadly with no "mens rea" requirement that the offender knowingly engaged in illegal activity, according to testimony last month before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security on the subject of "Reining in Overcriminalization," video of which has been posted on the subcommittee's website.The Heritage Foundation and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers deserve credit for forcing this issue onto the Congressional radar screen with their report from last year, Without Intent: How Congress is Eroding the Criminal Intent Requirement in Federal Law.The hearing's featured witness, of all people, was former racecar driver Bobby Unser, who was prosecuted for getting lost on a snowmobile in a blizzard and accidentally wandering into a restricted wilderness area near his ranch in New Mexico...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on October 21, 2010 (boomark / email).