By Scott Peyton

You can go to prison for making soap and using the wrong words on the label. That’s not satire — it’s federal law. Say your homemade soap “heals dry skin” or “kills germs,” and congratulations: you’ve just sold an unapproved drug. Buried deep in the Code of Federal Regulations are rules so obscure, so absurd, that everyday Americans break them without ever knowing — and yes, some violations carry the threat of prison.

The Federal Register, the official journal of the federal government, publishes thousands of rules and regulations every year that have never been voted on in Congress. In 2024, the register was 107,000 pages thick.

Many rules come with criminal penalties despite low risks to public safety. This makes it vitally important that lawmakers examine these rules and narrowly tailor them to advance proportional punishment in our justice system. That’s why the Count the Crimes to Cut Act is a long overdue step to bring transparency to our bloated federal regulations. No one, not even the Department of Justice, knows how many federal crimes exist.

Of all the values we hold dear as Americans, perhaps none is more significant than individual liberty — a gift rooted in the God-given dignity of every person. The constitutional vision of limited government reflects a biblical understanding that earthly authority has its boundaries and must serve the good of its people. Yet an ever-growing web of federal regulations threatens this bedrock principle. Rules that often carry criminal penalties put power in the hands of unelected officials whose decisions can impact us in a variety of ways, including potential incarceration.

Those sentenced to prison enter a federal system that is strained and overburdened. The Bureau of Prisons employs more than 35,000 people but has more than 155,000 men and women in its custody. In a system stretched this thin, we should be prioritizing prison space for individuals who pose a true threat to public safety — not small business owners who mislabeled homemade soap. Congress should require that federal criminal statutes and regulations include a clear mens rea standard — ensuring that only those who act with criminal intent face the serious consequences of a federal conviction.

We cannot afford to ignore the human cost of overcriminalization. The criminal justice system should reflect the values of personal responsibility and the opportunity for redemption — not serve as a pipeline fueled by bureaucratic overreach. Prison Fellowship is optimistic the Bureau of Prisons’ new director William “Billy” Marshall III will guide the agency toward fulfilling its mission of fostering a humane and secure environment and ensuring public safety by preparing individuals for successful reentry into our communities. But even the best leader can do nothing to slow the vast numbers of people entering the prison system each year due to federal infractions.

When people go to prison, their families serve a kind of sentence, too. Incarceration devastates children and families, who often struggle long after their loved ones return home. People with a criminal record face thousands of barriers to employment, housing, education, and other basic needs, making it difficult to support their families and become good neighbors.

We must prioritize the well-being of our families and communities in the face of unchecked regulatory expansion. The bureaucratic rulemaking machine undermines the principle of democratic accountability and opposes values of personal responsibility and redemption.

With a renewed focus on cleaning up government processes, it’s time for lawmakers to focus criminal justice reform in more meaningful ways and restore a proportional system of punishment that saves taxpayer dollars while maintaining safety. Protection of our God-given rights, human dignity, and public safety must remain at the forefront of any law passed by Congress.

In the last two centuries, lawmakers of both parties have passed laws that served a purpose for a season. Now, lawmakers must come together to prioritize a system that promotes liberty and justice for all by passing legislation like the Count the Crimes to Cut Act and the Mens Rea Reform Act. By doing so, we can ensure regulations focus on intentional wrongdoing, while safeguarding the integrity of the justice system.

Scott Peyton serves as director of government affairs at Prison Fellowship.