INDIANAPOLIS – Legislators may vote to slow down their own ability to rewrite the criminal code.
Last year’s General Assembly created new crimes of fertility fraud and revenge porn, and at least six bills so far this year would create either new crimes or stiffer sentences for old ones. Senate Criminal Law Chairman Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) says legislators should take a breath. He’s authored a bill to require any new crimes or penalties to be reviewed first by a summer study committee. That panel would consider whether state law already covers a proposed new crime — Young argued last year the fertility fraud bill could have been addressed within the existing fraud statute.
The study committee would also be directed to consider the budget impact of a new crime, whether the proposed sentence is proportional to crimes already on the books, and whether it should just be a civil penalty instead. The same standards would apply to proposals to repeal current laws or shorten sentencing ranges.
Young says there are areas where new crimes need to be put on the books — he points to the rapid expansion of cyberspace as an arena certain to produce a need to address new criminal conduct. But he says legislators need to be thoughtful about how they do it.
Young’s bill would let legislators waive the study requirement in emergencies. Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council senior counsel David Powell says if legislators pass the bill, the study committee and legislative leaders need to take its requirements seriously. If legislators simply label everything an emergency, Powell warns, the bill won’t change a thing.
President Pro Tem Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) and Minority Leader Tim Lanane (D-Anderson) are co-sponsoring Young’s bill. Young’s committee put off a vote Tuesday to take some time to tighten the wording and address other concerns.