Missouri’s Jefferson City. New Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is anticipated to announce a number of anti-crime directives within minutes of his inauguration on Monday. A nationwide trend is reflected in the tone-setting action.
In the United States, a tough-on-crime stance has regained political support following a period of lenient sentencing guidelines.
As a new year of legislation begins in state capitols, both Democrats and Republicans are pushing anti-crime policies. This comes after ballot proposals that imposed harsher penalties for offenses ranging from theft to fatal drug dealing were approved by voters in a number of states in the autumn.
At noon, Kehoe, a Republican who won the election handily, will take the oath of office. Soon after, he organizes a Day One Action Ceremony.
The Kehoe administration would work tirelessly to make Missouri safer as soon as my hand leaves the Bible, Kehoe promised.
Similar to President-elect Donald Trump’s focus, anti-crime initiatives in some states are entwined with efforts to crack down on those who are unlawfully in the country. Additionally, many advocate for harsher punishments for the trafficking of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths in the United States each year.
There are other measures. Some call for harsher penalties for violent crimes, retail theft rings, and child sexual offenses. These crimes have drawn attention due to social media footage of shoplifting gangs raging through businesses.
Sen. Ron Watson, a Democrat from Maryland, is pushing legislation that would allow prosecutors to prosecute all members of a group crime with felonies if the total value surpasses $1,500, even if each individual took less than that amount.
According to Watson, the ability to get away with crimes and essentially get a slap on the wrist has empowered criminals. A crime is a crime, whether it be violent or not. And punishment is required for the offense.
Drug crimes in the spotlight
Several lawmakers are focusing on fentanyl smugglers, including Republican state representative Matthew Gwynn of Utah. According to Gwynn, selling big amounts of illegal fentanyl would carry harsher penalties under his measure than selling heroin or methamphetamine.
Because crack cocaine carried heavier penalties than powder cocaine in the 1980s, the federal government and many states have changed their rules after civil rights groups pointed out that minorities were disproportionately affected. However, Gwynn, the police chief of Roy, a suburb of Salt Lake City, stated that fentanyl sentencing penalties are warranted.
Given how many people it may kill, I think fentanyl is practically terroristic in character, Gwynn stated.
During the coronavirus epidemic, a variety of crimes increased. According to the Council on Criminal Justice, a nonpartisan think tank, shoplifting rates are still higher than they were before the pandemic, but rates of violent crimes and numerous property crimes have recently trended back down.
However, numbers are not always correlated with people’s perception of security. Public safety perceptions can be affected by high-profile crimes like the New Year’s Day attack in New Orleans, the burning of a lady on the New York subway, or the shooting death of a health insurance executive outside a hotel in New York City.
As stated by Adam Gelb, president and CEO of the Council on Criminal Justice, “when you see randomness, brazenness, that makes people feel vulnerable and suggests there is a sense of lawlessness, a breakdown of behavioral norms.”
According to Gelb, a lot of individuals believe that the reforms implemented in the last 20 years have gone too far and that a balance is necessary.
Crime is on voters’ minds
According to an AP VoteCast survey of over 120,000 voters conducted during the fall election, nearly 8 out of 10 Americans stated that they were extremely or somewhat concerned about crime in their local neighborhoods. In numerous states, including Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Alabama, and California, the percentage of those who said they were extremely concerned was higher than the national average.
In November, California voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot proposition that would increase the penalties for some drug crimes, particularly fentanyl-related ones, and make shoplifting a felony for repeat offenders. Parts of a progressive law that voters enacted in 2014 that reduced a number of nonviolent crimes, such as theft under $950 and some drug charges, to misdemeanors were repealed by the measure.
For several types of murder, assault, sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, burglary, and robbery, voters in Colorado supported a ballot proposal that extended the jail sentence before granting parole.
Voters in Arizona adopted legislation requiring life in prison for some child sex trafficking offenses and stiffening punishment for sales of lethal fentanyl.
Rethinking loose sentencing laws
Only a few years after easing sentencing guidelines, several states have reversed their positions. A 2020 voter-approved law that made possession of tiny amounts of dangerous drugs like heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine punishable by a ticket and a maximum punishment of $100 was repealed by a measure signed by Democratic Oregon Governor Tina Kotek. A new legislation that went into effect last year toughens the penalty for selling narcotics near parks and other locations and makes it a misdemeanor that carries a maximum jail sentence of six months.
Last year, Republican Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry enacted a slew of anti-crime policies, including extending the penalties for fentanyl and carjacking offenses, eliminating parole for the majority of criminals, and reversing a 2016 law that had regarded 17-year-olds accused of crimes as juveniles rather than adults.
In 2014, Missouri lawmakers adopted a revision to the state’s criminal code that lowered the maximum prison term for some nonviolent drug offenses. A legislation that exempts some nonviolent offenders from serving between 40% and 80% of their prison sentences was implemented in 2019, allowing hundreds of prisoners to be released earlier.
Lawmakers in Missouri are supporting a number of anti-crime initiatives this year, such as proposals that target retail theft, riots, fentanyl, stunt driving, and resisting arrest. Other policies promote hiring additional police officers.
On the first day of the Legislature, House Speaker Jon Patterson stated that too many Missouri families are being ripped apart by crime and violence. Criminals who wander our streets with little fear of punishment are the biggest threat to the development of our state.
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