Congressman Labrador Statement on Creation of Task Force on Over-Criminalization

Press Release

Idaho First District Congressman Raúl Labrador is pleased to announce passage of a resolution creating the House Committee on the Judiciary Over-Criminalization Task Force. Congressman Labrador has been appointed to be a member of the 10-person Task Force (five Republicans and five Democrats) by Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte. The task force will examine the number, type and scope of federal criminal statutes.

The goal of the House Judiciary Over-Criminalization Task Force is to conduct an in-depth analysis of over-criminalization and over-federalization of criminal laws to identify improvements to federal law and the House Rules, and to make bipartisan, unanimous recommendations to the House Judiciary Committee. With the increasing federalization of local crimes, there is a need to review and revise the federal criminal code to ensure that such federalization is minimized and tailored to appropriate crimes where state and local prosecutions may not adequately serve the public interest. Federal prosecutions constitute less than 10 percent of the criminal prosecutions nationwide. Congress must ensure that the federal role continues to be limited and that state and local offenses are not subsumed within an ever-expanding criminal code.

Congressman Labrador stated, "Over time, the criminal code has increased in size exponentially. This often causes conflicts with state and local criminal laws. The federal government's continued expansion of the criminal code has the potential to encroach on the freedoms and liberties protected by our Constitution. I look forward to working as a member of this important bipartisan task force on reform of our federal criminal code."

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