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North Carolina Loves Creating New Crimes, And 2016 Proved It
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North Carolina legislated nearly three times more new crimes in 2016 than in any of the six previous years, according to to a study released Tuesday by the Manhattan Institute (MI).
The Institute studied over-criminalization in North Carolina between 2015 and 2016, finding that the state created 83 new crimes in 2016, compared to just 31 in 2015 and an average of 34 between 2009 and 2014. Nearly 60 of the new crimes were regulations on business practices in banking and agriculture, created and executed by unelected administrative officials, the study claims. The state created a total 0f 114 new crimes between 2015 and 2016.
A graph depicting the increase of new crimes in North Carolina, leading to over-criminalization (Credit: Manhattan Institute)
“The current state of the criminal law in the Old North State is not good,” the Institute claimed. “Crimes are scattered throughout state statutes — not to mention in volumes of state, and even federal, regulations. The current criminal laws are almost impossible for the average individual or small business to navigate, a defect that affects both liberty and legal compliance.”
MI recommends that the state create a criminal re-codification committee to drastically overhaul the state’s criminal justice system and limit the ability of administrative officials to criminalize business practices.
Ohio’s re-codification committee released recommendations for their state in June. If followed, Ohio would release more than 3,000 inmates within the year into parole programs or other prison alternatives.
The Ohio committee recommended some increased penalties, however, calling for inmates to have time added to their sentences for bad behavior in prison.
“So let’s say you’re sentenced to 10 years for aggravated assault, and then nearly kill someone in prison, you could be sentenced to an additional five years,” an Ohio state Sen. Larry Obhof spokesperson told The Daily Caller News Foundation.
For the most part, however, re-codification in both Ohio and North Carolina would reduce sentences of non-violent crimes and cut down on the use of mandatory minimum sentences, as many states are struggling with spiking prison populations due to drug prosecution of the opioid crisis.
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