The Constitution gave Congress jurisdiction over only three crimes - treason, counterfeiting and piracy - but today there are more than 3,000 federal crimes. Hardly any crime, no matter how local in nature, is beyond federal jurisdiction. Yet 95 percent of all criminals are apprehended, prosecuted and imprisoned at the state and local level.

This trend toward national control is dangerous to both federalism and individual liberty. But all three branches of the federal government have pushed national control over crime and punishment. For example:

• The 1994 crime bill alone created two dozen new federal crimes.

• In cases like Mapp v. Ohio and Miranda v. Arizona, the Supreme Court imposed federal rules of evidence on every state court.

• In 1993 the federal courts operated 80 percent of all state prison systems.

Essentially, Congress has either already federalized local crimes or proposed their federalization. Further, Congress has created new categories of crime for environmental and regulatory matters that used to be handled by civil penalties.

• From its founding until 1982, the federal government criminally prosecuted only 25 environmental cases.

• Since then it has prosecuted and won more than 1,000 cases, and in 1993 alone, it convicted and imprisoned 135 defendants.

Federal involvement in local law enforcement, as in Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, has created growing concern. In a recent poll, 51 percent of Americans agreed it was likely that in the near future they would need to disobey laws in order to protect their constitutional rights.

Source: Edwin Meese III and Rhett DeHart, "How Washington Subverts Your Local Sheriff," Policy Review, January-February 1996, Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002, (202) 546-4400.