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Senator raises over-criminalization concerns, asks nominee to help address regulatory criminal penalties
Summary
At a Senate hearing, an unnamed senator warned that the number of federal criminal offenses may be at least 300,000, criticized criminal penalties embedded in federal regulations and ambiguous mens rea standards, and asked the nominee, if confirmed, to work on reforms.
An unnamed senator told a Senate hearing that federal criminal law has grown into an "over-criminalized" system and cited a Congressional Research Service finding that the number of federal crimes and criminal penalties is "unknown and unknowable, but at least 300,000." The senator asked the nominee, if confirmed, to work with Congress and others to address the problem.
The senator said much of the expansion comes from regulatory rules that carry criminal penalties without Congress enacting the criminal statutes directly. "A lot of the reason for this is that there are a lot of instances in which federal regulations impose criminal penalties," the…
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