For the past few weeks, I have been following the Richard Scrushy trial in Birmingham, Alabama. Like so many other highly-publicized trials, this one has had its media drama, the hype, and all of the other things that come with high-profile cases – sans murder – and it provides part of the “bread and circuses” that the public and news media seem to demand these days. But there is more to the story than meets the eye. [Full Article]
Source link: http://blog.mises.org/3200/federal-criminal-law-expediency-over-principle/
Federal Criminal Law: Expediency Over Principle
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Legislation gives courts far greater powers than they could ever get under common law. Judges have to decide according to the rules. Legislative regulations give judges power they could never have under common law. State supporters deflect attention to the judiciary, to hide the far more fundamental divide between legislation – the foundation of governance – & law. It is not for nothing that Hayek said repeatedly that legislation was more dangerous than gunpowder.
A friend of mine is a criminal defence atorney who occassionally practices in federal court. I asked him what caused the extremely high conviction rates there. He said that federal prosecutors generally did not take a case unless it was a slam dunk. Now this conflicts with what I have read otherwise. But the Eastern District of NC may be an exception. The contrary arguments that I have heard are much what Prof. Anderson has said or along those same lines. One commentator on Mises has mentioned the Tragedy of the Commons. Which is plausible and even likely. As to judges having a great deal of power, that may be true to a certain extent; but the Federal Sentencing Guidelines have taken much of the Bench’s leeway.
On an occassion or two at a fundraiser for a local Congressional candidate I wanted to ask former Federal Prosecutor and Congressman Bob Barrthe causes of the high federal conviction rate, but I wasn’t able to.
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