In September 2023, Kentucky lawmakers unveiled a package of proposed legislation under the name “The Safer Kentucky Act.” While several legislators have attached their names to the bills, those who have openly spoken in favor of it with news media include Rep. Jason Nemes and Rep. Jared Bauman.
On December 15, 2023, Bauman and Nemes presented the bill (BR 128) to the Interim Joint Committee on Judiciary. No opposition testimony was allowed at the hearing.
The Act is an extremely bloated collection of regressive policies and regurgitated ideas that have proven ineffective in the past. Some of the proposed policies include:
- Reinstating Kentucky’s “Three Strikes Law” where the third “strike” triggers a mandatory life sentence,
- Increased penalties for crimes related to substance use disorder,
- Creating more statutes and increasing penalties for crimes such as carjacking and vandalism,
- Mandatory sentencing,
- Involuntary commitment for the mentally ill,
- Criminalizing homelessness,
- and more.
So-called “tough on crime” policies have been around since the 1970s. A study by a group of criminologists and sociologists published in August 2020 found that an entire generation during the “tough on crime” era of the 1980s and early 1990s spent more time in prison serving longer sentences than any other generation before or after. Many are still serving time under those harsh sentences.
The draconian laws that emerged from the tough-on-crime era are too concerned with being punitive. Life without the possibility of parole, three-strikes laws and other sentencing enhancements, which add additional time to a sentence, are not proven crime deterrents.
Research has also found that prisons create more crime. One of the many ways that overuse of prisons hurts communities is that incarceration robs children of their parents. The result of this is that children with incarcerated parents tend to find themselves in the court system as well, making incarceration a generational curse.
Nothing detailed in the so-called “Safer Kentucky Act” will make Kentuckians any safer. Bills like this give the illusion of “law and order” while continuing to punish vulnerable populations and add to Kentucky’s incarceration crisis. Studies have long shown increased penalties do not deter crime, but investing in people does. Mandatory sentences and penalties apply a “one size fits all” answer to a variety of circumstances that are, at a minimum, incredibly complex situations.
Bill Movement:
Introduced: 1/9/24
Passed Committee: 1/18/24
Passed House: 1/25/24
Accepted by Senate: 1/26/24
Passed Committee: n/a
Passed House: n/a
Sent to Governor: n/a
Action by Governor: n/a
