The Remaking of S-1

The federal laws on crime, passed piecemeal by various Congresses, have never been systematically overhauled since the beginning of the Republic. Scattered through nearly every part of the 50-title U.S. code, they are sometimes laughable. For example, deflecting a Government carrier pigeon is a federal misdemeanor. They can also be unfair. Two men committing identical bank robberies can receive wildly differing sentences from different judges.

Congress created a commission to study recodification into one coherent volume as long ago as 1966. But after a bill was introduced by Senator John L. McClellan and two associates in 1973, the Nixon Administration responded with its own version containing a series of repressive measures. Among them: a vast expansion of the death penalty, prison terms for publication of vaguely defined classified Government information and exemption from prosecution for Government officials committing crimes in the name of national security. The two bills were combined into a 753-page monster known as Senate Bill 1 (S-l), which was widely attacked by civil libertarians. They blocked it in the Senate Judiciary Committee.

This month a sweeping new version is expected to be introduced in Congress by Senator McClellan and a surprising new partner, Senator Edward M. Kennedy. McClellan, 81, the crusty dean of congressional crime fighters, badly wants a criminal-code reform bearing the McClellan name before his expected retirement next year, and the compromise package negotiated over six months by aides of the two Senators is a far cry from the old Sl. "It's a net gain for civil liberties," an enthusiastic Kennedy told a House judiciary subcommittee last week.

Slimmed down to 270 pages, the new draft includes significant measures:

> It drops all efforts toward an "official secrets act," preserving current law on publication of Government data.

> It keeps the death penalty for only one crime--skyjacking.

> It ends all punishment for mere possession of up to ten grams of marijuana, going beyond decriminalization measures so far passed in eight states.

> It repeals the Smith Act (against advocating overthrow of the Government); the McCarran Act (requiring registration of "Communist front" organizations); and the Logan Act (forbidding any citizen to negotiate with a foreign government). The three measures have been spottily enforced in recent years.

> It slightly narrows Government wiretapping authority.

> It drastically increases fines for white-collar crime (e.g. up to $1 million for gross consumer fraud).

Most significantly, the compromise bill envisions a novel approach to punishment under guidelines to be established by a Federal Sentencing Commission. A narrow range of jail terms and fines is to be set up for each specific crime, and judges will be required to record their reasons for each sentence. Either side can appeal any divergence from the guidelines.

Passage of the bill is not certain. Senate conservatives will be sorely tempted to amend it, and the House Judiciary Committee has long been a graveyard for complicated legislation. But the Carter Administration has tentatively endorsed the compromise, and chances for passage before congressional adjournment in 1978 appear bright.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.