Returning Prosecutions to the States: A Proposal for a Criminal Justice Restoration Act

Abstract

The expensive and largely redundant Federal justice bureaucracy could be reduced to a fraction of its size by restoring to the states their traditional role of prosecuting crimes that fall under state jurisdiction. Returning criminal justice functions to the states would not only reduce the impact and effective reach of Federal power but would also achieve a surprisingly substantial decrease in Federal spending.

A small change in the wording of an existing Federal statute could accomplish the restoration.

This essay sets out and briefly analyses such a proposal.

Keywords: federalism, federal budget, deficit, criminal law, criminal justice, prosecution, criminal justice policy, size of government, cost of government, liberty