i was impressed with the fact that dr. baker in your paper you sight statistics showing that in 1983 it was estimated that there were 3,000 or so criminal offenses in the code. >> right. >> in 1998, you sited doj figures 300 as of 1998. >> these are are three different studies the first one by doj the other one involved the same person but with different methodologies used and that's why the different numbers . i see but that does not indicate that there was no growth in the number of -- >> there was growth but actually -- >> it may or may not have been 300. >> it's more. it was more than that. >> well, okay. all right. well, so that's a modest assessment. 3300 as of 98. that was 300 more than in 1983. between 1998 and 2008, that ten year period saw a rise to 4,450 according to your -- >> the 1998 figure which i explain in there is not a reliable figure because it did not follow the methodology. >> so you think it was higher. >> it was much higher. >> okay. >> the doj methodology which i used and which has been my e-mail told to

dr. baker previously worked as a federal court clerk and assistant district attorney in new orleans and served as a consultant to the united states departme department of justice, the whitehouse office of planning, usa-id. he was full bright specialist in the philippines and chile. he was district attorney in new orleans before joining lsu in 1975. while a professor, he has been a consultant of the state and dejustice department, he has served on the aba task force that issued the report of the federalization of crime. he received his bachelor from dallas university and yufrlaw de from the universities universities michigan. steven benjamin is a member of the professional bar association. members include private lawyers and defense counsel and law professors and judges commit today preserving fairness within america's criminal justice system. he has a private practice. he serves as special council to the virginia justice committee and a member of the virginia forensic board and indigent organiz

dr. bakerreviously worked as a federal court clerk and assistant district attorney in new orleans and has served as a consultant to the u.s. department of justice, u.s. senate judiciary subcommiteye on separation of powers, the white house office of planing, usaid. he was a fulbright scholar in the philippines and a fulbright specialist in chile. dr. baker served as law clerk in federal district court and assistants to the stir district attorney in yourself. while a professor he has been a consultant, of the state department and the justice department, he has served on the aba task force, which issued the report, the federalization of crime. he received his bachelor of arts degree from the university of dallas, his jd from the university of michigan law school, and his ph.d in political thought from the university of london. mr. steven d. benjamin is the president of the national association of criminal defense lawyers. the nacdl is a professional bar association founded in 1958. its members in

. >> i agree absolutely with dr. baker that the most striking facet of the current state of the criminal justice system and the biggest, the most dramatic change from when i first began 35 years ago to defend criminal cases is the overbalance of power. federal criminal defense now is all about negotiating a resolution. >> sentence. it's that you will it does. >> that's all it is. it's no longer about guilt or innocence. guilt is presumed at least by the prosecution and they have the tools available to compel the guilty plea so that that's not even a question. it's all about snitching out, cooperating, doing whatever you have to get the leniency, the fair treatment that you seek. >> so what then do we bring to our full yushry committee and the house of representatives in terms of these ten hearings that we've had this year and last year? i mean, what can we take? and i want to commend the chairman and ranking member sensenbrenner and scott for having put this together as they have. but where do we go from here? >> i think t

dr. baker, you've been here before. this to me is such an important thing because i think we have seen travesties of justice. people withintent. and if anything else, the government can use that power to force them to do things just with the threat. you know, they don't have to get a conviction. they can just -- and you could really, it could be used in a way that we see some countries around the world that use the judicial process simply to put people in jail that will stand in their way of whatever their goal is. and i hate that on certain cases people with agendas have maybe done that here. that's a shame because that's not america. that's not what our constitutional forefathers envisioned. my time is up. so -- >> time of the gentleman is expired. the gentleman from virginia, mr. scott. >> thank you, mr. chairman. dr. baker, what problems could occur if we defer to states for prosecution of virtually all cases that do not have a bona fide federal nexus? >> well, even today, most cases, the o