A Louisiana lawmaker has introduced five Senate bills aimed at toughening laws regarding sentencing mandates, bail requirements, the release of criminals after conviction but before sentencing, and one allowing the Attorney General to prosecute cases in times when a district attorney will not.
The bills are from the pen of State Senator Jay Morris of Monroe.
"We've got to start somewhere. But I don't think anyone can dispute that we've had a significant spike in crime, particularly violent crime all across the state. I feel like somebody needs to step up and do what they can to address this."
Morris says these bills, along with those introduced by other legislators are just the beginning of what will likely be a multi year effort to reverse the trend of letting violent people back on the streets.
"I think the pendulum has been swinging in the favor of the offenders," Morris says. "I think it's time for it to swing back towards helping our citizenry be safe and victims of crime, particularly violent crime should be our priority."
Though Morris is from the Monroe region, he says crime like we're seeing in New Orleans is seeping into the rest of the state.
"You know a lot of it in New Orleans has been in the news of late," he says. "The horrendous carjackings and the like but we've had issues up here in Northeast Louisiana. So I'm trying to address these problems from a number of angles. What we don't get accomplished this year, we're come back next year with more."
Morris says the time has come to prioritize the victims of violent crime before the alleged perpetrators.
"Complaining about the lenient sentencing for violent crimes contributed to spike we're seeing right now. So I'm trying to address these problems and what we don't get accomplished this year we can come back next year with more. I'm hope we can get some version of all these bills through."
The Safer Louisiana Agenda, five senate bills aimed at addressing violent crime:
SB 4 - This bill would authorize a constitutional amendment to eliminate the authority of a court to grant bail after an offender has been convicted thereby allowing the legislature to pass laws relating to post conviction bail.
SB 89 - This bill prohibits the release of a criminal after conviction for a serious violence offense absent good cause shown.
SB 263 - This bill would authorize a constitutional amendment to allow the Attorney General to prosecute cases without the permission of the court in which the cases are brought under conditions set forth by the legislature. The constitution currently requires that the local court approve the Attorney General’s involvement in a case.
SB 387 - Allows the Attorney General to initiate the prosecution of a crime when a district attorney cannot or refuses to initiate a prosecution.
