Crime and Criminal Law

Interstate Community Supervision
There is a growing trend in this country (and in California) to require criminals, especially sex offenders, to remain on "community supervision" after their punitive sentence has ended. However, since these supervision requirements are not parole, it's easy for an ex-con to escape them by leaving the state. Community supervision sentences should be allowed to be overseen by federal parole agents in cases where an ex-con has left the state where the offense occurred.

Police Searches
Unless there is an immediate safety issue, police should always be required to get a warrant to conduct a search. The process is simple and takes only a few minutes, and protects the public from criminals who get away with crimes because improperly discovered evidence must be excluded from trial.

Asset Seizure
Our seizure laws in this country out out of control. I am aware of cases where assets were seized and sold before defendants even came to trial, and where the seizure was subsequently upheld by the court! I'm aware of homes being seized because the defendant lived there when the crime was committed -- elsewhere! This isn't criminal justice, it's plunder, and must be reformed.

Death Penalty
In principal, a government should, if absolutely necessary, be able to take a life with due process of law. In practice, we have an unacceptably high rate of false conviction in this country, and we still appear to have a problem with race and gender playing a factor in the application of the death penalty. Since it is cheaper to keep a prisoner confined for life without parole than to execute them anyway, America should stop practicing the death penalty indefinitely.

Federal Sentencing Guidelines
Every crime is unique. The problem with federal sentencing guidelines is they attempt to create a "one size fits all" rubric, leaving judges no authority to assess the situation as presented by the facts shown in court. We have three branches of government, and the legislature should not micromanage the judiciary.

Extenuating-Circumstance Defenses
We seem to live in a society whose mantra is "it's not my fault." While extenuating circumstances certainly exist, anyone who is not severely mentally impaired has the ability to choose between right and wrong. I believe that if you commit a crime, you should be punished. Extenuating-circumstance defenses should therefore be rare.

Discriminatory Enforcement
All laws should apply equally to all people. Period. Discriminatory enforcement cannot be tolerated.

Racial Profiling
Racial profiling is wrong and unnecessary. People may behave in a suspicious manner regardless of race, and race in no way determines an individual's predisposition to commit certain types of crimes (though many other, often undiscernable, factors do).

Obstruction of Justice
A person who protests their innocence is not guilty of obstruction of justice, especially in cases where there isn't enough evidence to charge them with any other crime. This is a very dangerous precedent that must be corrected through legislation.

War on Drugs
The so-called "war on drugs" is clogging our prisons with harmless users and diverting law-enforcement resources away from investigating real crimes. First priority must be given to stopping crimes where there are victims. Let the drug users live with the consequences their decisions have on their lives without turning them into hardened criminals in jail.