NCJ Number
77105
Date Published
1980
Length
57 pages
Annotation
Prepared for members of Congress by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), this paper examines the major threats to civil liberties contained in S. 1722, the Criminal Code Reform Act of 1980.
Abstract
Following a discussion of the risks and benefits involved in revising criminal laws, this report reviews previous unsuccessful attempts to enact a Federal criminal code as well as the background of the 1980 legislation. Although the ACLU worked with the House of Representatives committee on its reform proposal, the Senate took an entirely separate course and produced a draft that the ACLU opposes because of its setbacks for civil liberties. These problems are compounded by the simultaneous introduction of a Senate bill reinstituting the Federal death penalty which recent judicial decisions suggest is unconstitutional. Major areas of disagreement between the ACLU and the Senate committee's bill concern Government appeal of sentences, pretrial release, sentencing, jurisdiction over crime on energy facilities, obstructing a Government function by physical interference, and obscenity. In other sensitive areas -- criminal consipiracy, criminal attempt, false oral statements, obstructing proceedings by disorderly conduct, hindering law enforcement, riot, and extortion -- the bill's flaws are damaging to civil liberties but could be offset by technical drafting changes or by other measures. This report analyzes each of these areas in detail, describing the current law, the Senate bill and the ACLU position, and how the topic is treated in the House bill, H.R. 6915. Opinions of other organizations regarding the proposed legislation are summarized. Approximately 40 footnotes are included.