XPost: alt.fan.states.kentucky, alt.politics.democrats.governors,   
   alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: democrat-criminals@mail.house.gov   
      
   https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/gop-backed-bill-proposing-harsher-   
   sentences-combat-crime-108625898   
      
   FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Republican lawmakers in Kentucky wrapped up work   
   Thursday on a sweeping criminal justice bill that would deliver harsher   
   sentences to combat crime. Opponents making a last stand before final   
   passage warned the measure would carry a hefty price tag with no   
   assurances that a tougher approach will lower crime.   
      
   The House voted 75-23 after another long debate to send the measure to   
   Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear. The massive legislation is a priority for   
   many in the GOP supermajority legislature.   
      
   The governor has signaled he likes aspects of the sprawling bill but   
   dislikes other sections, including provisions to create the crime of   
   unlawful camping, which critics say would criminalize homelessness.   
      
   “It's hard to comment on a bill that tries to do this many things,”   
   Beshear said recently. “I think it properly should have been split into   
   different bills.”   
      
   House Bill 5 — one of the most contentious of the legislative session —   
   would make a multitude of changes to the state’s criminal code, enhancing   
   many current penalties and creating new offenses.   
      
   Supporters portrayed the bill as a necessary policy shift that would do   
   more to hold criminals accountable and to make communities safer.   
      
   “If you get convicted of a violent crime, you’re going to the big house   
   and you’re going for a long time,” Republican Rep. Jason Nemes said in   
   defending the bill against blistering criticism from Democrats.   
      
   One prominent feature would create a “three-strikes” penalty that would   
   lock up felons for the rest of their lives after committing a third   
   violent offense.   
      
   Opponents said the measure failed to delve into the root causes of crime   
   and warned of potential skyrocketing costs by putting more people behind   
   bars for longer sentences.   
      
   “To increase the penalties may make us on paper look like we feel safer. I   
   do not know that it will make us actually be more safe,” said Democratic   
   Rep. Tina Bojanowski.   
      
   To bolster public safety, she suggested such alternatives as temporarily   
   taking guns away from people experiencing mental health crises, better   
   protecting domestic violence victims and improving access to housing —   
   things not addressed by the legislation. Other critics said more effective   
   ways to combat crime would be to raise the minimum wage and spend more on   
   rehabilitative services.   
      
   The bill's supporters focused mostly on urban crime in pushing for tougher   
   policies. A law enforcement report released last year showed that overall   
   serious crime rates fell across Kentucky in 2022, with declines in reports   
   of homicides, robberies and drug offenses.   
      
   Opponents said the prospect of more criminal offenders serving longer   
   sentences will saddle the Bluegrass State with significantly higher   
   corrections costs and put more strain on overcrowded jails.   
      
   The fiscal note attached to the bill said the overall financial impact was   
   “indeterminable” but would likely lead to a “significant increase in   
   expenditures primarily due to increased incarceration costs.”   
      
   The measure would add to the list of violent crimes that require offenders   
   to serve most of their sentences before becoming eligible for release.   
      
   Another key section aims to combat the prevalence of fentanyl by creating   
   harsher penalties when its distribution results in fatal overdoses.   
   Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid seen as a key factor in the   
   state’s high death toll from drug overdoses.   
      
   The section stirring some of the most heated debate would create an   
   “unlawful camping” offense applied to the homeless. It means people could   
   be arrested for sleeping or setting up camp in public spaces — whether on   
   streets, sidewalks, under bridges or in front of businesses or public   
   buildings. A first offense would be treated as a violation, with   
   subsequent offenses designated as a misdemeanor. People could sleep in   
   vehicles in public for up to 12 hours without being charged with unlawful   
   camping.   
      
   Several thousand people experience homelessness in Kentucky on a given   
   night, advocates say.   
      
   The bill would create a standalone carjacking law with enhanced penalties.   
   Another provision would offer workers and business owners criminal   
   immunity in cases where they use a “reasonable amount of force” to prevent   
   theft or protect themselves and their stores.   
      
   The bill's lead sponsor is Republican Rep. Jared Bauman and the measure   
   drew dozens of cosponsors.   
      
      
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