Survey of 2019 State Criminal Law Legislation

The Federalist Society has this white paper by Robert Alt surveying changes in criminal law in 2019. The most encouraging development comes from Alaska. That state’s legislature and governor realized that prior “reform” (i.e., soft on crime) legislation went too far and rolled it back substantially. California has an initiative on the November ballot that, if approved by the voters, would make modest roll-backs of the state’s ill-conceived Propositions 47 and 57 of earlier years.

A few other states have toughened up particular laws. Most of the changes, though, are in defendants’ favor. To be sure, there are some spots where criminal penalties have gotten out of hand and need adjustment. Mostly, though, the headlong rush to water down criminal law is ill-conceived and will result in needless victimization of innocent people, as we have discussed in numerous posts on this blog.