The Kentucky House managed to pass a sweeping crime bill Thursday despite vociferous opposition from pro-criminal Democrats.
House Bill 5, or the Safer Kentucky Act, would impose tougher sentences for many offenses and includes a “three-strikes” penalty forcing a life sentence on anyone who’s convicted of committing their third violent act.
The bill would specifically outlaw “unlawful camping” in public spaces, block pro-criminal organizations from bailing out violent offenders, allow business owners to use a “reasonable amount of force” against shoplifters, classify carjackings as Class B felonies, and more, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
“With this bill, House Bill 5, we are reasserting some basic and simple truths — that there is a right and wrong, and that criminals are accountable for their actions, not society, and that society has the right to protect itself from the criminal element,” Republican state Rep. Jared Bauman, the bill’s lead sponsor, said during a three-hour debate on Thursday.
“The simple truth is that the criminal element has become an all too normal part of our world today,” he added in a separate statement made after the official vote. “I appreciate the support of so many House members but regret that others chose to stand with violent offenders rather than victims.”
The bill passed mainly along party lines 74-to-22.
Roughly 15 minutes short of hitting the 3 hour mark on debate, HB 5, the Safer Kentucky Act, passes the KY House mostly on party lines with some ‘liberty wing’ Republicans joining Dems @Fox56News pic.twitter.com/tNoEA64OzN
— Bode Brooks | FOX 56 News (@BodeBrooks) January 25, 2024
Democrats largely opposed the bill because they thought it to be too mean and wanted instead to focus on the so-called “systemic root causes” of crime.
“Unfortunately, this bill lacks a lot in my opinion,” Democrat state Rep. Sarah Stalker said. “It lacks compassion for our most vulnerable population experiencing homelessness.”
Their rhetoric matched the rhetoric of the Biden administration as it pertains to the southern border crisis. Whereas Republicans want to secure the border, the Biden administration has focused exclusively on identifying the “root causes.”
Yet this focus has done nothing to stymie the flow of illegal alien migrants across the border. Similarly, Kentucky Democrats’ focus on the “root causes” of crime has allowed crime to flourish across the state.
“Louisville passed a grim milestone in 2021, recording more murders than ever before,” Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell revealed in a column for the Courier-Journal written in 2022. “Of the 188 killed, 24 were children. A carjacking occurs in the city every 42 hours. Just recently, an anti-gun, anti-police activist tried to assassinate a Louisville mayoral candidate and was let back on the streets within 48 hours.”
“Lexington also recorded a homicide record in 2021. Almost 2,000 Kentuckians died from drug overdoses in the last year for which statistics are available – a 49% increase from the year prior. Dangerous fentanyl is pouring across our southern border and into Kentucky homes, accounting for 70% of overdose deaths,” he added.
The @KYSTATEFOP supports HB5
Safer Kentucky ACTSponsor: Rep. Jared Bauman#kyga24 pic.twitter.com/7Cbfh54PFm
— KY State FOP (@KYSTATEFOP) January 14, 2024
“Soft-on-crime legislation makes (police officers’) jobs harder,” Republican state Rep. Wade Williams, a former police chief, said this week, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.
“I saw firsthand effects from the prior decriminalization effort from this General Assembly in days past. I understand their intention was to reduce costs and incarceration. But it had a negative effect on crime-fighting. I believe House Bill 5 will correct some of these issues and these unforeseen consequences,” he added.
Democrats complained about every aspect of the bill, including the three-strikes penalty.
“Why we’re doing a rinse and repeat of this failed attempt from the ’90s is unclear to me,” Stalker said of the provision.
Republican state Rep. John Blanton responded with the following: “If someone has committed three violent crimes and they’re incarcerated and can’t get back out, they’re not going to commit another violent crime. That’s a fact.”
True.
“All Kentuckians deserve to feel safe in their communities, but the policies in House Bill 5 will not make us safer.”
Ahead of the HB5 discussion on “Kentucky Tonight,” here’s committee testimony on this harmful legislation from Policy Analyst Kaylee Raymer. #KYGA24 pic.twitter.com/qQdjO8jIZG
— KyPolicy (@KyPolicy) January 22, 2024
Democrat state Rep. Josie Raymond, meanwhile, dared to claim that the real problem is “manufactured fear.”
“The problem that the ‘Suffer Kentucky Act’ is trying to solve is not an increase in crime. It’s an increase in manufactured fear,” she said.
Blanton pushed back on her by arguing the bill “protects victims and punishes the criminals, incarcerates them, and that’s what we should do.”
“We as a government have a responsibility to protect our citizens. If we don’t, then we’re going to be like other major cities around this country that have adopted these liberal policies. … We’re just simply trying to protect our citizens,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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