PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Gina Lauterio
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: glauterio@prosecutorintegrity.org
Center for Prosecutor Integrity Announces Establishment of Over-Criminalization Project
WASHINGTON / March 19, 2015 – Today the non-profit Center for Prosecutor Integrity is announcing the establishment of the Over-Criminalization Project. The purpose of the Project is to highlight the problem of over-criminalization and identify ways for prosecutors to provide leadership to ameliorate the problem.
Over-criminalization may serve to encourage prosecutors to interpret statutes in a manner that exceeds legislative intent and over-charge for minor offenses. Over-criminalization affects all Americans by robbing persons of fundamental civil rights and costing taxpayers billions of dollars each year for unnecessary criminal justice programs.
On June 11 the Over-Criminalization Project will host a Symposium on Over-Criminalization in the Washington, DC area. Confirmed plenary speakers include Molly Gill of Families Against Mandatory Minimums; Paul Kamenar, a public interest attorney; Paul Larkin of the Heritage Foundation; and Timothy Lynch of the CATO Institute. Small group workshops on a variety of topics will be presented, as well.
Registration information can be seen here: https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/symposium/2015-2/
“As a former district attorney, I’m concerned about the growing number of duplicative and vaguely worded laws,” notes CPI chairman Phillip Kuhn. “The Over-Criminalization Project will help promote ethical prosecutorial practice, which serves the interests of justice.”
The new CPI Project will initially focus on the problem of over-criminalization of sexual conduct. The Project’s web page can be seen here: https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/overcriminalization/
The CPI Over-Criminalization Project is supported in part by a grant from the Bader Family Foundation.
The Center for Prosecutor Integrity is working to enhance prosecutor ethics, reduce over-criminalization, preserve the presumption of innocence, and bring an end to wrongful convictions.: www.prosecutorintegrity.org