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Levin: Time to Rethink What's a Crime

The prolific Marc Levin at the Texas Public Policy Foundation last month published a short paper (pdf) titled "Time to Rethink What's a Crime." Here's a notable excerpt:Texas can?t arrest its way out of a recession, but many policymakers act as if we could. During the 81st legislative session, the Senate passed legislation creating a criminal penalty for establishments that serve food with transfats, with only seven Senators deciding they couldn?t stomach this legislation. A loophole in the bill exempted ?fried yeast,? i.e., donuts. Though the measure died in the House, the Legislature still created 40 new offenses and dozens of penalty enhancements.What's more, he writes:with so many sweeping and often ambiguous criminal laws, including those that are created every week by regulatory agencies without the approval of elected offi cials, it is impossible for any person or business to regularly stay abreast of the line between what is legal and what is criminal...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).