Wednesday,
January 5, 2000
CHIEF
JUSTICE?S REPORT LAUDS COMMITTEE?S EFFORTS ON CONTROLLING
THE FEDERALIZATION OF CRIMES
WASHINGTON
? In his 1999 Year End Report on the Judiciary, Chief Justice
William Rehnquist has lauded Governmental Affairs Committee
Chairman Fred Thompson (R-TN) for holding hearings last year on
the federalization of crimes.
"...I
commend the Senate Government Affairs Committee and its Chair,
Senator Fred Thompson, for holding hearings on May 6, 1999, on
the issue of controlling the federalization of crimes that are
better left to state laws and courts to handle," Chief
Justice Rehnquist wrote.
"Eliminating
unwarranted federalization of crime will help control growth in
federal courts and preserve them as courts of limited
jurisdiction," Chief Justice Rehnquist added. In this
report, Rehnquist noted the Governmental Affairs hearings were
held in response to issues he raised in last year?s report
regarding the growing caseload in the federal Judiciary.
Senator
Thompson said, "While it may be politically appealing to
federalize crime, Congress should think carefully about the
consequences before it legislates in areas traditionally handled
by the States. We are moving toward two redundant and
overlapping sets of criminal laws -- State and Federal -- often
with different penalties for the same conduct. There is broad
agreement across the criminal justice system that federalizing
crime is not only counter to the Founding Fathers' careful
constitutional design, but also has harmful implications for
crime control."
Senator
Thompson, author of the "Federalism Accountability Act of
1999," S. 1214, strongly believes that each level of
government is best suited to do certain things. Further, he
believes that government closest to the people, best serves the
people. This is the principle on which federalism rests and
Chairman Thompson has made federalism a high priority of the
Governmental Affairs Committee. In 1999, the Committee held
three hearings on federalism. In 1998, Thompson helped block a
proposed Executive Order on Federalism that was opposed by state
and local officials.
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