New at Reason: Jacob Sullum on Hate Crimes, Sex Crimes, and Congress

June 24, 2009

In a 1995 decision that overturned a federal ban on possessing guns near schools, the U.S. Supreme Court noted that "the Constitution creates a Federal Government of enumerated powers," which do not include a general authority to fight crime. Five years later, when it overturned a statutory provision that created a federal cause of action for victims of gender-motivated violence, the Court warned that congressional attempts to usurp the states' police power threatened to erase the "distinction between what is truly national and what is truly local." But as Senior Editor Jacob Sullum notes, two pieces of legislation in the news, both named after murder victims, show that posing as a crime fighter is still more popular on Capitol Hill than obeying the Constitution.

Read all about it here.