Federal Criminal Code Reform: Is It Possible

The criminal code title of the United States code should be completely rewritten. The National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws, the Brown Commission, announced that conclusion in 1971. It remains equally valid today. The paper explains the continuing inadequacy of the criminal code title and describes the history of the codification effort. It also focuses on whether criminal law codification could be achieved in the future. In the author's opinion, the substantive criminal laws of the United States could be joined together in an efficient enacted code. To do so, however, will require that lessons be drawn from the unsuccessful effort to enact a federal criminal code from 1972 to 1982. For example, multiple criminal code bills, rather than the Brown Commission recommendation above, were debated in Congress. During the entire period, the issue generated more than 24,000 pages of testimony and exhibits in congressional hearings. In 1979 and 1980, over a period of more than 300 days, the House subcommittee held 157 days of hearings, public meetings, additional hearings, and meetings to revise the draft legislation. As a result, it did not report a bill to the full committee until March 11, 1980, a date that was too late for full committee, rules, floor, and conference committee action. All Congress has to do to avoid such delay is to provide in the commission legislation that the "fast track" rules of section 151 of the Trade Act of 1974 (19 U.S.C. section 2191) shall apply to the final report of the commission. The fast track rules provide, inter alia, that if a bill is not reported from committee 45 days after introduction, it shall be automatically discharged.