Crime Laws Named After People Are Generally Bad Ideas
Radley Balko, Senior Editor of Reason, takes on one of my pet peeves in an interview in the Atlantic: crime laws named after individuals. He says (linking to this TChris Post):
Here's a pretty good rule of thumb: If you're naming a piece of crime legislation after a crime victim, it's probably a bad law. It means you're legislating out of anger, or in reaction to public anger over a specific incident. That's generally not how good policy is made.
Or, as I like to put it, Let us not enact laws out of grief and passion, or in response to a singular criminal event, however horrific it might be. Cooler heads are needed where our fundamental liberties are at stake. Examples: The Laci and Connor Law. Megan's Law. The Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act.
I'm also not thrilled with Attorney General Eric Holder's proposal today for a federal hate crimes law, for reasons well noted by Colorado Independent.
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