it comes from overcriminalization. it comes from the government being in charge of so many aspects of our lives. i will leave you with this. an irs agent going through the capitol intimidating legislators in california said to one of my colleagues senator, we can carve our paddle to fit anybody's -- that is frightening if the government can say we will fit you to the crime. that's what barilla told stalin. he said you bring me the man, i will find the crime. conservatives and liberals need to care that the government has so much power they can create a crime from all of these available. i am so glad that mr. sensenbrenner, mr. davis, that mr. portman are dedicated to helping us stem the tide of this powerful government, making sure that our policies make sense and bringing together people left and right they care about liberty and freedom and public safety. thank you. [ applause ] >>> you know the problem that we face consists of putting too many people in prison, treating them badly when they are in prison and then no

the whammy that's been done by 40 years of war on crime and mass(@y incarceration and overcriminalizationnd i was really struck by this. in all the recent work i've done in public discourse on ferguson and policing. the virulence of white hostility to the critique of policing to the critique'iiz of our criminal justice system, is really kind of shocking. you :tñknow, the social media virulence that i know i personally have experienced for even daring to write about this stuff really jv@qreminds:çé+p us of -- spot than we might have been had we not had many years of this kind of mytv aÑ sv0,púveÑ x4&oracialism. and so i just want to end by saying, i thinka (÷ ferguson not only uzkúreminds us of all the things i've just said, but it also.'% i think reminds us that this next -- in next moment of history, theli battle ground that -- the battles that need to be had against overcriminalization, excessive policing, and really at bottom against white privilege and white power white supremacy are going to need to be wagedr everywhere. one of the most!Ñ(gy striking things about being in ferguson, a

last congress the judiciary committee created a bipartisan overcriminalization task force with the goalf examining the problems associated with a bloated, disorganized and often redundant collection of federal criminal offenses. the congressional research service recently reported to us that there are nearly 5,000 federal criminal laws on the books. and unfortunately congress continues to add to this number at a rate of roughly 50 new crimes per year. one of the recurring themes from both the witnesses who appeared before the task force as well as the members of the task force is that it is crucial that the judiciary committee have the opportunity to review all new federal criminal law. throughout its existence this bipartisan task force endeskered to closely examine the -- endeskered to closely examine the problem posed by overcriminalization and overfederalization and identify potential solutions to combat the regrettable circumstances that inevitably arised from the tangled web of federal criminal provisions. examples of similarly situated defendants convicted of the same conduct und

overcriminalization is a affront to personal liberty and expensive and inefficient way to deal with a lot of problems much. there are an estimated 4500 federal crimes on the books and congress is adding about 500 new crimes in each of the past three decades and still many more regulations and rules state that if not abided by can result in criminal penalties including incarceration. the united states now houses about 25% of the world's prisoners despite representing about 5% of the world's total population. of overcrowded prisons are a costly burden to taxpayers. federal prisons cost taxpayers $7 billion a year and states now spend more than $50 billion a year up from about 9 billion in 1985, which was only 30 years ago. it is the second fastest growing area in state budgets trailing only medicaid. there are smarter and more effective ways to deal with criminals. and, i am about ready to introduce a series of bills that will address overcriminallization. i don't expect any of my colleagues to vote for all of them. i also don't expect any of my colleagues to vote against all of them. b

last congress the judiciary committee created a bipartisan overcriminalization task force with the goal of examining the problems associated with a bloated, disorganized and often redundant collection of federal criminal offenses. the congressional research service recently reported to us that there are nearly 5,000 federal criminal laws on the books. and unfortunately congress continues to add to this number at a rate of roughly 50 new crimes per year. one of the recurring themes from both the witnesses who appeared before the task force as well as the members of the task force is that it is crucial that the judiciary committee have the opportunity to review all new federal criminal law. throughout its existence this bipartisan task force endeskered to closely examine the -- endeskered to closely examine the problem posed by overcriminalization and overfederalization and identify potential solutions to combat the regrettable circumstances that inevitably arised from the tangled web of federal criminal provisions. examples of similarly situated defendants convicted of the same conduct u

we believe that the problem of overcriminalization in indiscriminate amly case of laws in local 234ris e police departments should be addressed. against soet in integrated in society. voting rights should be restored, social services that will help acclimate to a life outside of prison and enhance the chance of success. in closing, i leave you with the words of dr. king. we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. we are confronted with the urgency of now. there is an invisible book of life that records our individual lens for our neglect. we still have a choice today. nonviolent code, and anigh lagsz. this could be the choice between chaos and community. >> thank you very much, sir. next we have mr. jim jerks ermaine, preparing leaders for tomorrow. >> to such a point a conversation that we needed to have. specifically, i want to thank mr. stevenson. marginalized young people around the nation from my heart. i also want to thank the other panelists whose common and i also vow that it's not my time since i already arrived late. and, also i'd like to thank -- i was just tryin

from all discussions that we've been having about mass incarceration, which is policing and overcriminalization. in this strange turn of events we've started to talk about the prison crisis and the need to de-carser ate but we have not talked about the feeder to that crisis which is over i criminalization and policing. there is a weird disconnect between those discussions and i think one of the most important things that have happened as a result of ferguson and also events in new york city and in cleveland was that we are now finally beginning to have this discussion in the national dialogue and have a national dialogue about the need to reign in excessive, overzealous and unnecessary police practices about the problem of overpopulation of poor black and brown that are the feeders for mass incarceration. but i think ferguson matters because it changes the national dialogue but i think it matters because it has reminded us -- and we always knew this as historians, but it has reminded us as citizens of the really important lessons that we must pay attention to from the past if we will have any h

is sentencing reform and there is a lot of other related issues to that that stem from our overcriminalization task force, which did a lot of work and had a lot of hearings last congress and produced a lot of good ideas in a whole host of areas and we are interested in reviewing these areas. it includes looking at the sentencing process. it includes looking at making sure that people who are charged with crimes are indeed the actual perpetrator of the crime and not someone who is being falsely charged. if we can improve our criminal justice system we are interested in looking at. we also think there is even more ground to be gained in looking at prison reform. we think this is an area that the states -- some of the states have had considerable success in. so i asked my staff last year to look at states that have had a reduction in their prison populations at the same time they had a reduction in either the crime rates and resiffism rates. they are on to something. we invited several of them in and they gave us a number of ideas on how to conduct prison reform legislation. that's on our list. w

>> a lot the next attorney general can do in terms of roux deucing what we consider an overcriminalization problem. and i can go into great detail. another would be reducing the politicization of certain aspects of the department of justice. a lot of critics have criticized the department. the next attorney general needs to do a lot to rehabilitate the reputation of the department? >> i'm hear because the confirmation means so much to me in general because she would be the first african american woman to hold the position of attorney general and i hope she goes to the reform to the criminal justice system. >> standing in line for the hearing. what are you expecting to hear? >> i afree with the previous person that you interviewed this is a historic occasion. i'm sure that this -- that loretta lynch is extremely capable, the president says so, the standing attorney general has said so and i'm sure they she will do a good job. i'm here to remind her that i'm with the d.c. ferguson group and code pink and we are here to remind her that black lives matter and it is person that she gets on top

the overcriminalization of innocent or socially beneficial behavior for a variety of means. i can go into great detail about. this but that would be one problem. another one would be reducing the politicalization aspects of the department of justice. a lot of critics have accused the current attorney general of criticizing the department. whether that's fair, the next attorney general needs to do a lot to rehabilitate the reputation of the department. >> those comments from before the hearing started this morning. they got under way at 10:00 eastern. they took a lunch break and took another short break here just about 15 minutes ago. that's due to votes on the senate floor. and the keystone bill. we'll continue to take your calls and comments until just about when they gavel back in, so let's go to boston and this is margaret on the democrats line. >> hi. i think the answers and the questions were very very impressive. they seem to appreciate her answers and they seem to -- and also wants to work very closely with them. and i think this is the best hearing i've heard since t

the overcriminalization of america by charles coke and mark holden.arles coke obviously, making a lot of headlines over the past week. he and also some progressives have sort of joined forces against over-criminalization of america. they write as americans we like to believe our rule of law and our country is respected and fairly applied and that only those who commit crimes of fraud or violence are punished and imprisoned. but the reality is often different. we have paid a heavy price for mass incarceration and could benefit by reversing this trend to bring about transformation we must set aside partisan politics, and solutions, that's why we've partnered with national criminal defense lawyers for more than ten years to bring about positive changes in our justice system. they talk about reform especially for the disadvantaged. this is something you have not only charles coke talking act but on the other side you have again a lot of wlib rallieders out there thinking that. >> right. >> we have to have bipartisan reform. >> it is interesting, i turned