Hastings Law Journal Volume 27 | Issue 1 Article 5 1-1975 Compounding Crimes: Time for Enforcement Merek Evan Lipson Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Merek Evan Lipson, Compounding Crimes: Time for Enforcement, 27 Hastings L.J. 175 (1975). Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol27/iss1/5 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Hastings Law Journal by an authorized editor of UC Hastings Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COMPOUNDING CRIMES: TIME FOR ENFORCEMENT? Compounding is a largely obscure part of American criminal law, and compounding statutes have become dusty weapons in the prosecu- tor's arsenal. An examination of this crime reveals few recently re- ported cases. Its formative case law evolved primarily during the nine- teenth and early twentieth centuries. As a result, one might expect to find that few states still retain compounding provisions in their stat- ute books. The truth, however, is quite to the contrary: compounding laws can be found in forty-five states.1 This note will define the compounding of crimes, offer a brief re- view of its nature and development to provide perspective, and distin- guish it from related crimes. It will analyze current American com- pounding law, explore why enforcement of compounding laws is dis- favored, and suggest that more vigorous enforcement may be appropri- ate, especially as a weapon against white collar crime.