Former Liberty Papers Contributor Authors Report on “Over-criminalization Epidemic” for Freedomworks

Former Liberty Papers contributor Jason Pye may have long ago moved on from this humble blog but he certainly hasn’t moved on from doing his part to educate the general public on matters of liberty and justice. Pye’s latest work for Freedomworks is something I have a great deal of interest in and concern about: over-criminalization.

What can be done about the idea that the average person commits (usually unwittingly) three felonies a day? Pye offers some great ideas; mine are probably too radical. My radical proposal being

1. Congress should repeal the entire criminal code and restore the Crimes Act of 1790.

2. Crimes that are already on the books in a given state should have jurisdiction instead of similar federal crimes (i.e. murder is already a crime in all 50 states and all the territories, therefore; the federal government should not charge anyone for murder as the state or territory would use its police power to bring charges).

This would go a long way towards solving the problem of over-criminalization.

That said, Pye’s recommendations are probably more politically feasible and should be a great starting point.

The Over-criminalization Epidemic: The Need for a Guilty Mind Requirement in Federal Criminal Law

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