Abstract
"We cannot put up with this kind of animal behavior. These people have no place in decent society, and ... they can go to jail and they can stay in jail and they can rot in jail for crimes like that." Soon after speaking those words, on October 25, 1992, President George Bush signed the Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 in Detroit, Michigan. For the citizens of Detroit, it was a fitting response to the crime that was coined "carjacking" and popularized in the same city-the Motor City-in the heat of the summer of 1991. Earlier federal legislation, the Motor Vehicle Law Enforcement Act of 1984, had not curbed auto theft as promised; rather auto theft had gained momentum. When car owners fought back with anti-theft devices, thieves turned to carjacking- "a twisted innovation in car theft."
Recommended Citation
F. G. Wing,
Putting the Brakes on Carjacking or Accelerating It? The Anti Car Theft Act of 1992,
28
U. Rich. L. Rev.
385
(1994).
Available at:
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/lawreview/vol28/iss2/5