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42 Cap. U. L. Rev. 803 (2014)
Do Statutes Criminalizing Possession of Burglary Tools Reduce Crime

handle is hein.journals/capulr42 and id is 837 raw text is: DO STATUTES CRIMINALIZING POSSESSION OF BURGLARY TOOLS REDUCE CRIME? PAUL A. CLARK* I. INTRODUCTION Every state except West Virginia has, at some point, had a law making it a crime to possess burglary tools.' The definition of a burglary tool, of course, differs considerably from one state to the next and, for decades, courts across the country have struggled with ambiguous definitions.2 The most common burglary tool is an ordinary screwdriver, and the case law is littered with cases in which police, prosecutors, courts, and juries try to distinguish between innocent possession of a screwdriver and nefarious possession of a screwdriver. The danger that innocent people will be mistaken for burglars and prosecuted under these statutes has been recognized,4 but what has not been seriously addressed is the question of whether such statutes are effective at preventing burglary. Courts and legislatures have simply assumed, often on the basis of anecdotal evidence, that such laws are an important crime-fighting tool.5 This Article examines crime data from the states that have repealed their burglary tool statutes to attempt to determine if the enactment or repeal of such laws has resulted in a measurable effect on burglary rates. Data from these states strongly suggest that burglary tool statutes are not effective at reducing crime and, at best, they are of marginal benefit. Copyright © 2014, Paul A. Clark. . Paul A. Clark, M.A., J.D., Ph.D., is admitted to the bar in Alaska and New Jersey and specializes in criminal law, torts, contract disputes, employment law, and immigration. The author has published articles on labor law, constitutional law, criminal law, and international law. 1 See infra note 23 and accompanying text. 2 See infra notes 106-15 and accompanying text. 3 See infra notes 17, 108, 218, 265 and accompanying text. 4 See infra notes 46, 47, 96, 116, 289 and accompanying text. 5 See Henry E. Smith, The Harm in Blackmail, 92 Nw. U. L. REv. 861, 870 (1998) (explaining that the rationale for the crime of carrying burglar tools depends on the probability of such tools being used in a burglary).

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