U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Fla., continued his efforts for federal criminal justice reform this week, teaming up with a Louisiana Democrat on a bill to streamline federal criminal codes.
Rooney, who served in the Army as a prosecutor in the JAG Corps and taught law at West Point, has been active on the issue in recent months, calling for reforming the federal regulatory crime code and teaming up with U.S. Rep. Ted Deutch, D-Fla., to call for a new national criminal justice commission.
On Wednesday, Rooney teamed up with U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., a member of the House Judiciary Committee who worked as a defense attorney, to unveil the “Stopping Over-Criminalization Act.” The bill creates a searchable inventory of federal crimes; ensures that any new federal rule with criminal penalties be approved by Congress; and makes the government prove defendants knew they were violating the law before facing prison sentencing.
Rooney and Richmond pointed to numbers from the Congressional Research Service (CRS) showing more than 300,000 federal regulations that have criminal penalties. The congressmen insisted many of these crimes are “vague, overbroad, obscure, and difficult to understand” and often result in convictions of individuals for crimes that a reasonable person might not know even existed.”
The Florida congressman made his case for the bill on Wednesday.
“With hundreds of thousands of regulatory crimes hidden throughout the federal code, how on earth can we expect individuals and small businesses to know these laws, understand them, and comply with them?” Rooney asked. “Our bipartisan bill will help reduce the size, scope and complexity of the federal criminal code, so that hard-working Americans don’t have to worry that an honest mistake could land them in prison.”
“With the prison population growing at an exponential rate, we must address all of the factors that have led to mass incarceration,” Richmond said. “Our criminal code has exploded to the point that it is impossible for most Americans to even begin to understand all of the things that could land them in prison. This legislation would take steps towards bringing order to our criminal justice system and ensuring that citizens don’t find themselves behind bars for honest mistakes.”
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
