Crime

The primary purpose of government is to solve, try and punish crime.
Those obligations do not always belong at the federal level.

• The Constitution is very explicit about the limits of federal powers. It is required to defend the nation, operate courts of appeals, control immigration and standardize money and commerce.
• Only when crimes cross state or international borders do they require the assistance of federal powers. The 10th Amendment reserves all other criminal powers to the state and local governments. The federal government is limited to the protection of individual rights against abusive and tyrannical state laws.
• The persistent federalization of good state laws is a mistake. Criminal and civil laws should be formed, adopted and enforced by the governments that are closest to the people. Refinements, innovations and community enforcement should not be stifled by rigid, mundane and nationalized police powers.
• For these reasons, the FBI should be limited to investigative services in support of, not in authority over, local police. The FBI Compact is crucial to coordinating and enhancing interstate information gathering, but it should not be burdened with the risks of casual and potentially libelous reporting directly to interested citizens. The federal "Kids Safe" legislation, based on good "Megan's Laws" of several states, violates the FBI Compact controls necessary for accurate reporting.
• Congressional resolutions could properly recommend legal forms to state governments, but it should only supersede state laws when they are unconstitutional violations of individual rights. It is this unique foundation of citizen rights as the primary purpose of government that protects us from the tyranny and oppression of totalitarians powers.
• One critical area that should be addressed by Congress has been left in the hands of federal courts. The "exclusionary rule" may have been the only tool available to the Supreme Court to protect against police violations of important legal rights. Congress needs to implement a new method of protecting Miranda rights that does not compromise the integrity of criminal trials. No truth should ever be excluded from evidence. No violation of individual rights should go unpunished. The "exclusionary rule" abrogates both of those principals and should be addressed promptly by Congress.
• The most obvious failures of federal police power are evident in the "Drug War" and BATF "enforcement" operations. Prohibition of any substance or object is unconstitutional. The only Amendment that attempted to make "possession" of a substance into a crime (the 18th: Prohibition of Alcohol) was a failure and properly repealed. Efforts to evade the Constitutional requirements by de facto bans are not only improper, they are foolish and destructive of a civil society.