Former U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese addresses the ABA Criminal Justice Section Fall Meeting
America’s overreliance on incarceration is not working and the country must implement alternative methods to reduce crime, agreed experts during the opening address and plenary panel at the ABA Criminal Justice Section Fall Meeting.
“We’re in the throes of overcriminalization,” said Edwin Meese, former U.S. attorney general. “We are making and enforcing so many criminal laws, many of which create traps for the unwary and threaten to make criminals out of people who would never think about breaking the law on their own.”
Panelists expressed concerns about criminalizing minor violations. They include eating French fries at train stations or failing to properly fill out complicated paperwork when starting a small business, Meese said.
“More and more people are being arrested, prosecuted and convicted, and some of them are doing time in prison for doing things that they never would have regarded as illegal or a violation of the criminal law,” he added.
Instead of using the limited resources of the courts and law enforcement in these instances, the country should consider alternatives — such as civil and administrative actions, or sanctions including license revocation for businesses — to address such violations, Meese said.
Experts also agreed that even more serious offenses, including drug use and prostitution, could be resolved through means other than criminal penalties. Drug treatment programs and mental health courts are two viable options that have worked for different jurisdictions across the country.
Brooklyn District Attorney Joseph Hynes cited reduced crime and recidivism in his community because of such efforts. Today, one out of every 89 people in his community becomes a victim of a violent crime. Previously, that number was one out of every 15 individuals.
Continue Reading @ ABANow
Related articles
- New Scholarship – Overcriminalization 2.0: The Symbiotic Relationship Between Plea Bargaining and Overcriminalization (lawprofessors.typepad.com)
- “Drugs, Dignity and Danger: Human Dignity as a Constitutional Constraint to Limit Overcriminalization” (sentencing.typepad.com)
- Women In The Criminal Justice System (crimlinks.wordpress.com)
3 Responses to “Overcriminalization and Reliance on Incarceration Is Not Effective, Say Criminal Justice Experts”