States are increasingly eliminating theirstatutes of limitations on crime.

The U.S. Supreme Court will tell California by June 30 whether a 205-year-old standard allows the state to prosecute a 74-year-old man on 48-year-old child molestation charges.

At least 10 states will be debating the removal of the statute of limitations on offenses in which DNA evidence is found at the crime scene. Another 20 states have passed similar laws since 2000. Eighteen states are deciding whether to remove time bars to pursue old child abuse cases. Another 12 states have done so.

On the federal level, the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, which amends the USA Patriot Act of 2001, eliminates or extends the statute of limitations on a wide variety of crimes.

A statute of limitations is essentially a time bar that prevents prosecution for crimes that were committed before a certain date. For example, in federal drug crimes, the statute of limitations is five years. If the police search your house and find drugs today, they have five years from today to charge you with a crime. After that, they are time-barred from prosecuting you.

The time bars ensure that law enforcement resources are efficiently used: when eyewitness memories are clearest and defendants' abilities to defend are most favorable. It is a common law concept that grew out of efforts by British royalty in the 1600s to persecute political dissenters by resurrecting old crimes and by criminalizing previously acceptable behavior.

The move by states to eliminate statutes of limitations corresponds to the advent of DNA testing. While DNA databases are being built, there are over 1 million untested samples. Many are from crimes in which the statute of limitations has expired.

We strongly object to the removal of statutes of limitation, on legal grounds. On a more gut level, we concur with this statement, quoted in the article:

"Are we so bloodthirsty that we have to right every conceivable wrong?" asked Lawrence S. Goldman, president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

"....Has our society become so victim-oriented that we concede to the government fundamental civil liberties so that we can have vengeance every day of every week?"