There are more than 5,000 federal crimes defined today. Most have never been prosecuted, and it’s so impossible to know of all of them that when the federal government itself tried to count how many crimes are defined, it failed.
We could do a great service to citizens, lawmakers, courts, and actual victims of real and meaningful crimes by repealing most of these statutes, but that would involve real and ongoing work by Congresspeople to make things better for little personal benefit, so I don’t expect it to happen.
There are more than 5,000 federal crimes defined today. Most have never been prosecuted, and it’s so impossible to know of all of them that when the federal government itself tried to count how many crimes are defined, it failed.
We could do a great service to citizens, lawmakers, courts, and actual victims of real and meaningful crimes by repealing most of these statutes, but that would involve real and ongoing work by Congresspeople to make things better for little personal benefit, so I don’t expect it to happen.