On Friday, Representatives Chip Roy (R-TX), David Trone (D-MD), and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) introduced legislation aimed at creating a comprehensive report of all federal criminal statutes and regulations carrying criminal penalties.
The proposed Count the Crimes to Cut Act of 2024 mandates collaboration between the Attorney General and heads of federal agencies to compile detailed information on every offense for the past 15 years as well as their elements, potential penalties, the number of prosecutions over the past 15 years and the intentionality standard needed to prove guilt.
“People cannot live free when government buries them under incomprehensible and never-ending criminal laws,” said Roy. “Almost any adult in this country could be indicted for some kind of infraction at any given time, whether or not they were even aware they were in violation. This needs to change; getting a proper inventory is a necessary first step to fixing this problem.”
The Heritage Foundation
estimates suggest there are between 4,500 and 5,000 criminal statutes and up to 300,000 regulations with criminal penalties in the United States.
The legislation has garnered endorsements from various organizations, including Heritage Action, the Due Process Institute, Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the National District Attorneys Association and the R Street Institute.
Representative Trone, Co-Founder of the Second Chance Task Force, highlighted the bill’s potential impact on addressing overcriminalization.
“For decades, Americans – disproportionately people of color – have suffered from overcriminalization, often of nonviolent but highly penalizing crimes. The Count the Crimes to Cut Act will take a closer look at these offenses and identify those that have no real bearing on the safety of our communities,” he said. “I’m proud to join this bipartisan effort to help ensure our criminal justice system is actually ‘just’ for all Americans.”
Roy emphasized the steady increase in the number of federal crimes.
“The growth of federal crimes continues unabated. For the past twenty-five years, a period over which the growth of the federal criminal law has come under increasing scrutiny, Congress has been creating over 500 new crimes per decade,” he said.
- Representatives Chip Roy
