LBJ Makes an Important Appointment to a Federal Commission

In 1966 Congress established the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws to examine the state of the federal penal law and to propose a reformulation. The action was in part taken to appease an anxious public which was insisting that Congress do something about dramatically escalating crime rates, but it was motivated as well by an authentic desire to reform and improve the law. Congress left no doubt that it wished to see a thorough rethinking of the federal law of crimes, and its mandate was heeded. In due course the commission produced a thorough revision of the federal substantive law of crimes, and several bills were passed for the enactment of portions of it into law. The centerpiece of the new laws was the RICO?anti-racketeering act aimed at organized crime.

Pat Brown lost the 1966 California gubernatorial election to Ronald Reagan and left office in January 1967. President Johnson decided to utilize Brown’s talents to head the new criminal law commission and appointed Brown to the post. Document Signed as President, March 16, 1967, designating “Edmund G. Brown Chairman of the National Commission on Reform of Federal Criminal Laws.” This is the first Johnson document we can recall issued in the form of a presidential Order.