November 23, 2003
Crime Bill Passes Senate
President Will Sign Immediately

WASHINGTON (IP) - The war on crime won a battle today
when the omnibus crime bill passed the senate against
fierce opposition from the Libertarian minority. 
President Brady says she will sign the bill as soon as
it crosses her desk.
     Amidst accusations of "thought crime," the
Democrat-controlled senate passed the bill by a
comfortable margin.  The voting was 63-36 on strict
party lines.  The eight Republican senators sided with
the Democrats.  The feared Libertarian filibuster
failed to materialize.
     This bill brings much-needed relief to America's
crime-ridden neighborhoods by strengthening police
powers, relaxing evidence requirements, streamlining
court procedures, forming a new federal police force
and allowing proactive arrest and prosecution of
certain persons.
     The last provision, which allows police to arrest
those expected to commit crimes, is the most
controversial aspect of a bill fraught with debate. 
Minority leader Jim Thomas (L-AK) said, "1984 has come
to America, just 19 years later than George Orwell
predicted.   When we allow the arrest of those who have
committed no crimes, we stoop to prosecuting 'thought
crime,' that most horrible of Orwell's visions for the
future."  Senator Thomas was, of course, referring to
that far-seeing blueprint for society, the novel  1984
     These fears were discounted by the author of the
amendment, Senator Patty Murray (D-WA),  who countered,
"We must have the ability to arrest criminals before
they carry out their evil deeds.  If we wait until 
they have offended, it is too late.  Far too long have
our women and men in uniform been hampered by the
notion that only those who have been proven to have
committed crimes are guilty.
     "We must take the offensive and give the police a
proactive instead of a reactive role to  play.  Any
doctor in the world will tell you that preventive
medicine is far preferable to corrective medicine.  We
are simply expanding this concept to the disease of
crime."
     The Murray Amendment is an innovative piece of
Legislation that uses the "reasonable expectation"
doctrine first tested in New Jersey's highly successful 
"incipient offenders" law which allows the arrest,
prosecution, and punishment of "those suspected of 
harboring intent to commit a crime" as if they had
actually committed the crime in question.  This statute
resulted in the arrest and conviction of over 5000
would-be felons within 90 days of the law's passage
last year and has been hailed as a major deterrent to
criminals.
     It is expected that most of those convicted under
this new law will serve their terms in the new federal
contract prisons located in Sonora, Mexico and
Ishtapore, Turkey.  These maximum-security prisons are
operated by their respective host governments, who bill
the U.S. a negotiated per-inmate fee each year.  The
Turks charge about 12% as much as it would cost to
imprison one convict in the U.S.  The Mexican prison is
more costly, but at 18% is still highly competitive. 
Other maximum-security units in Pakistan and Argentina
will be able to accept prisoners next year pending
completion of contract negotiations.
     Another section of the bill mandates the creation
of a new federal police agency,  the United States
Police Force (USPF).   This new division of the Justice
department would initially have over 100,000 uniformed-
and plainclothes officers, making it the largest police
force in the nation.  Many experienced members of other
federal agencies and the military will make up the
initial manning of the USPF, but many new recruits will
be required.  Plans exist to set up recruiting stations
similar to those used by the armed services; these
stations would be financed out of the agency's generous
recruiting and advertising budget.  The chief target of
the recruiting campaign would be high-school students
and recent graduates.  It may be necessary to institute
a police draft if it proves impractical to maintain an
all-volunteer force.
     "This new police force will be a godsend to us,"
said California Governor Dianne Feinstein.  "The
Justice department has told us we will receive 13,000
USPF officers.  This will free up our own police to
perform vital administrative tasks such as background
checks for voting and parenting licenses, processing
internal passport applications, and screening books and
newspapers for illegal or subversive content."
     Additional duties for the USPF will be crowd and
riot control, routine residential contraband sweeps,
and supervision of all official book-burnings. These
tasks were previously carried out by several
special-purpose offices, all of which will be
incorporated into the new agency.  The USPF  will also
assume responsibility for security at the President's
Palace.