More Law, Less Justice

In 1972, Pennsylvania's crimes codes had 282 offenses. By 2010, it had increased to 636 offenses.

Today, there are more than 1,500 criminal offenses on the books in Pennsylvania.

A report released on October 17, 2019, by the ACLU of Pennsylvania illustrates how the General Assembly passes duplicative offenses and harsher penalties in every legislative session. This bloating of the criminal code undermines a person's right to a fair trial and diminishes the power of judges in exchange for more power in the hands of prosecutors, who use the threat of many charges to strong arm people in plea deals.