House Judiciary Committee Approves Bills to Address Federal Over-Criminalization

Washington, D.C. – The House Judiciary Committee today approved four bills to rein in the explosion of federal criminal law, commonly referred to as over-criminalization. First, the Committee approved the Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 4002) by voice vote, authored by Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.). This legislation creates a default mens rea standard that applies when federal law does not provide a state of mind requirement. It also creates uniform definitions for several terms that are used frequently throughout title 18 of the Criminal Code.  “The passage of the Criminal Code Improvement Act of 2015 by the House Judiciary Committee is a positive development in the Congressional initiative to make meaningful changes to our nation’s broken criminal justice system,” said Crime Subcommittee Chairman Sensenbrenneron the approval of this bill. “It’s a significant element of our reform efforts that will improve our current standards, reduce our bloated criminal code, and protect honest Americans and small businesses who unknowingly commit unintentional violations.” Second, the Committee approved the Fix the Footnotes Act of 2015 (H.R. 4001) by voice vote, sponsored by Congressman Ken Buck (R-Colo.). This legislation fixes the footnotes in the current version of the Criminal Code to address errors made by Congress in drafting the laws. “I’m thankful the Judiciary Committee approved the Fix the Footnotes Act of 2015,” said Congressman Buck. “Americans expect Congress to maintain our Criminal Code and make any changes necessary for the protection of liberty and the rule of law. This bill may make small changes, but they’re important nevertheless.” Third, the Committee approved the Regulatory Reporting Act of 2015 (H.R. 4003) by voice vote, sponsored by Congresswoman Mimi Walters (R-Calif.). This bill requires every federal agency to submit a report to Congress listing each rule of that agency that, if violated, may be punishable by criminal penalties, along with information about the rule. “Americans are facing an ever increasing federal regulatory burden,” said Congresswoman Walters. “The most concerning aspect of overregulation is when criminal penalties are attached to these regulatory violations. These regulations, with numerous technically complex requirements, pose the formidable punishment of criminal sanctions on unassuming public. I'm pleased that today the House Judiciary Committee advanced my bill, H.R. 4003, the Regulatory Reporting Act, which would take the first step in addressing these criminal penalties and reining in cumbersome federal regulatory overreach.”  And fourth, the Committee approved the Clean Up the Code Act of 2015 (H.R. 4023) by voice vote, authored by Congressman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio). This bill eliminates several statutes in the U.S. Code that subject violators to criminal penalties, such as the unauthorized use of the 4-H emblem or the interstate transportation of dentures. “Today’s action in the Judiciary Committee is the first step towards fixing the problem of over-criminalization,” said Congressman Chabot. “As the federal criminal code has expanded over the years, our laws have criminalized some activities that simply should not be crimes, such as unauthorized use of an emblem or slogan or the transportation of dentures.  By eliminating several unnecessary and trivial criminal penalties, the legislation approved by the Committee today will help to make sure that people are not criminally prosecuted for honest mistakes and benign behavior, while at the same time preserving appropriate punishments for truly illegal activity" House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and Ranking Member John Conyers (D-Mich.) said the following on the approval of the four bills to address over-criminalization: “Over the past few decades, the federal criminal code has expanded dramatically. The bills approved by the House Judiciary Committee today make commonsense changes to the federal criminal code to ensure our laws fit within the overall federal criminal law scheme, are appropriate in force relative to other criminal laws, require that a person must intend to commit a crime in order to be criminally liable for that crime, and are necessary. We look forward to introducing additional bills to improve our criminal justice system over the coming weeks.” Background: The United States Code currently contains nearly 5,000 federal crimes. Recent studies estimate that approximately 60 new federal crimes are enacted each year, and over the past three decades, Congress has averaged 500 new crimes per decade.  In addition to the statutory criminal offenses, there are thousands of federal regulations that, if violated, can also result in criminal liability. Many of these laws and regulations impose criminal penalties on people who have no idea they are violating a law.

To learn more about the House Judiciary Committee’s bipartisan criminal justice reform initiative, click here.