Abstract: Just before Christmas 2009, 11-year-old Sarah Haley Foxwell was brutally raped and murdered by a convicted high-risk sex offender, Thomas J. Leggs. Although Leggs was classified as a high-risk offender in Delaware, because of inconsistencies in sex offender classification between states, Maryland identified… Read more
Abstract: Many aspects of the terror threat—from communication between terrorist groups to recruitment of new members—has been changing, largely due to ever-developing Internet technology and new possibilities in cyberspace. One new trend is the lone-wolf terrorist—such as Army Major Nidal Hassan, who massacred his… Read more
Almost everyone seems to be asking the same question with respect to the WikiLeaks saga: What, if anything, can Julian Assange, and those who have worked closely with him, be prosecuted for? Most Americans have a visceral reaction that Assange did something wrong and must be… Read more
Testimony before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate June 11, 2009 My name is Brian Walsh, and I am Senior Legal Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation's Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. The views I express in this… Read more
My name is Brian Walsh, and I am Senior Legal Research Fellow in The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Legal and Judicial Studies. The views I express in this testimony are my own and should not be construed as representing any official position of The Heritage Foundation. … Read more
Before the Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate … Read more
Before the Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the United States House of Representatives Delivered September 29, 2010 Introduction … Read more
Abstract: This November, California voters will consider a ballot initiative, the Regulate, Control and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010. Scientific research is clear that marijuana is addictive and that its use significantly impairs bodily and mental functions. Even… Read more
Cully Stimson comments on differing punishments for possession of crack and cocaine. … Read more
Before the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate Delivered July 21, 2010 … Read more
INTRODUCTION Policymakers at last are coming to recognize the connection between the breakdown of American families and various social problems. The unfolding debate over welfare reform, for instance, has been shaped by the wide acceptance in recent years that children born into single-parent families are much more likely than children of intact families to fall into… Read more
This testimony was delivered on June 27, 2007, before the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States Senate. My name is David Muhlhausen. I am Senior Policy Analyst in the… Read more
The word "justice" is on everyone's lips nowadays, and may signify almost anything. We hear the cry "Peace and Justice!" from folk who would destroy existing societies with fire and sword. Other folk fancy that perfect justice might readily be obtained by certain financial rearrangements -- as if anything in this world ever could be… Read more
Despite a welcome decline in violent Crime rates nationwide, African-American males are still dying from criminal homicides at an alarming rate. According to statistics from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), violent Crime in the United States has fallen since 1991.1 Politicians of both parties have hailed the news of this recent decline, but… Read more
I don't have to tell you that things are at a critical juncture in our country when it comes to violent crime. We find violence now running at intolerably high levels. The heyday of violent crime was actually in the 1960s and 1970s, and I will describe it in more detail later. It peaked… Read more
Mounting social science research confirms what most Americans already know: The breakdown of the family contributes significantly to many of society's ills, including poverty, crime, drug addiction, school drop-out rates, and poor health. From this same research, Americans also are learning that when fathers are absent from their families, the rate of… Read more
The political pressure to criminalize innocent conduct has proved difficult for most Members of Congress, irrespective of party affiliation, to resist. As a result of these pressures, Congress often crafts criminal legislation that is “misguided, unnecessary, and even harmful.”[1] It is far too easy for a Member of… Read more
For centuries, the concept of a “guilty mind” has been at the core of what makes someone a criminal. Most Americans rightly think that no one deserves criminal punishment unless he intended to break the law or knew that his conduct was unlawful or sufficiently wrongful so as to put… Read more
In the wake of the failed car bomb attack on Times Square, Attorney General Eric Holder has proposed that Congress expand the public safety exception to Miranda. Superficially, carving out more time for law enforcement personnel to question a terrorist suspect before reading the suspect his Miranda rights seems… Read more
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Until recently, it was fashionable for the political left to argue that the United States should not serve as the “world’s policeman.” The international human rights community, heavily dominated by Europeans and other Europhiles, has lobbied so hard for so long to change that school of thought that the… Read more
As American students head back to school, many parents will worry about their children's safety at school during the coming year.[1] School safety will likely be a top concern of families living in Washington, D.C. In 2009, the U.S. Department of Education reported that 11.3 percent of D.C.… Read more
A warning to Californians: dangerous convicted criminals are coming soon to a neighborhood near you. That’s because...… Read more
Violent and property crime fell in America last year, the second full year of the current recession, according to new...… Read more
In the International Criminal Court (ICC) Review Conference’s discussion of the “crime of aggression,” the U.S. agenda...… Read more
There are positive and negative aspects to today’s 6-3 Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Florida that it is...… Read more
Remember President Obama’s trip to Copenhagen last year? Not the failed Chicago Olympics bid, but the Climate Change...… Read more
On November 9th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments challenging the constitutionality of juvenile life...… Read more
The United States has a juvenile crime problem that far exceeds the juvenile crime problems of other Western...… Read more
On Saturday, October 18, 2005, Pamela Vitale has plans to go to an afternoon ballet with a...… Read more
Research Fellow in Empirical Policy Analysis