NCJ Number
146562
Journal
State Legislatures Volume: 19 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1993) Pages: 26-29
Date Published
1993
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article argues that the Federalization of crimes by Congress does little to prevent or deter crime, but instead creates harsh penalties for crimes traditionally handled by the States, creates public expectations about government response to crime, and puts political pressure on States to imitate tough anticrime actions.
Abstract
In recent years, Congress has enacted Federal legislation outlawing carjacking, attacks on abortion clinics, drive-by shootings, and domestic violence. The principal motivations for such legislation seem to be grabbing headlines and allaying public fears rather than filling any actual gaps in State law. While States are still responsible for adjudicating 95 percent of all street crimes, Congress has taken to using the "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution to extend the reach of Federal criminal jurisdiction. Congress has tended to have a broad national interest in crime, demonstrated by the national war on drugs declared in the 1980's. While Federal drug prosecutions have soared, and Federal prison populations have quadrupled with the incarceration of drug offenders, tough minimum mandatory sentences for drug crimes have had little apparent impact on use. The authors recommend that State legislatures and Congress begin to communicate more openly in order to improve crime control without causing State powers to atrophy.