71 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
71 lines
3.9 KiB
Plaintext
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CATO POLICY REPORT
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CHAIRMAN'S MESSAGE
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(By CATO Institute Chairman William Niskanen)
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The Crime Bill is a Killer
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Crime in the United States is a serious problem. The crime bill now being
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considered in Congress, however, is not a serious solution. A product of
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mindless Republicans and spineless Democrats, the crime bill is counter-
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productive, discriminatory, and expensive. Let me count the ways.
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Approval of the crime bill would probably INCREASE the number of murders.
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It has been widely reported that the bill authorizes capital punishment for some
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51 crimes. What has not been widely reported is that 10 of those crimes involve
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something other than murder; treason, espionage, transporting explosives with
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intent to kill, arson of federal property in interstate commerce, the fourth
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felony conviction of a major drug supplier, drug trafficking "drive by
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shootings," aircraft hijacking, hostage taking, kidnapping, and bank robbery.
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Those are clearly serious offenses. The problem with authorizing capital
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punishment for them is that it would eliminate any marginal deterrent effect on
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the offender who murders the victims or witnesses to those offenses. That would
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surely increase the number of hostages, kidnap victims, witnesses to bank
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robbery, and so on who are murdered. The deterrent effect of a criminal penalty
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is a function of the severity of the penalty and the probability of arrest and
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conviction. An increase in the penalty for the crimes listed here would reduce
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the number of offenders convicted, at the cost of the lives of innocent victims
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and witnesses.
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Second, the bill creates different classes of murders, depending on the
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status of the victim. The murder of foreign officials, a wide range of federal
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officials from the president to poultry inspectors, the families of federal
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officials, state officials assisting federal officials, court officers and
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jurors, and others would be capital crimes. The bill would not provide a
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similar deterrent for the 99-plus percent of murders that do not fall under
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those categories. Similarly, the bill authorizes a police officers "bill of
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rights" without addressing the rights of those who are abused by the arbitrary
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exercise of police power. One might hope that those sections would be ruled
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unconstitutional as inconsistent with equality under the law.
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And third, the bill is expensive, authorizing an additional #3 billion of
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federal funds for enforcement, incarceration, and the training of police
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officials. That figure underestimates the total cost, because other provisions
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would increase the current overcrowding of state prisons and jails. Crime is a
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serious problem, and additional funding might be appropriate if there were any
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evidence that it would reduce crime. Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.) expressed what
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may be a common belief when he said, "Crime in America is inversely proportional
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to the number of policemen we have on the streets." Unfortunately, there is NO
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evidence that a general increased in funding for police and corrections would
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reduce crime.
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The provisions of the crime bill discussed above are broadly supported by
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the Bush Administration and members of Congress of both parties. Most of the
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controversy has been focused on the provisions affecting gun control and the
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exclusionary rule. Crime in America is a serious problem, but whatever the
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merits of those provisions, the crime bill of 1991 is not serious legislation.
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In 1723, the English Parliament passed the Black Act, which authorized the
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capital punishment for such heinous offenses as stalking deer in disguise at
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night, cutting down young trees, and writing threatening letters. The crime bill
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now before the House is addressed to more serious offenses, but the political
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incentives to talk tough and legislate stupidly are the same as those that led
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to the notorious Black Act.
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Submitted by:
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Chris Crobaugh
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North Ridgeville, Ohio 44039
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(216) 327-6655
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