Kentucky GOP crime bill draws concerns over civil liberties, wiretapping... including from a Republican

Republican members of the Kentucky House unveiled just last week an outline for a wide-ranging anti-crime bill they hope to pass into law next year, but their proposal has already drawn early criticism from civil liberty advocates — including a member of their own caucus.

Dubbed the Safer Kentucky Act, the 18-point omnibus bill presented by seven GOP members of the Louisville delegation includes increased penalties for several types of violent offenders, expanded use of wiretapping by law enforcement and several different measures to protect business and property owners from shoplifting, vandalism and homeless encampments.

Heading the effort, Rep. Jared Bauman, R-Louisville, said the bill is a reaction to increased violent crime in the city and is needed to protect fed-up constituents "from those who prey on fellow citizens."

There is not yet a draft of the bill publicly available, with Bauman saying lawmakers are "very early in the process" on it and plan to unveil a bill to an interim legislative committee in December, a few weeks ahead of the kickoff of the 2024 session in Frankfort.

While the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police signaled early support for the goals of the bill, criminal justice reform groups like the ACLU of Kentucky are raising red flags based on the plan's outline. So is Rep. Savannah Maddox, R-Dry Ridge, one of the biggest advocates for smaller government among the GOP caucus.

Adding the caveat that she has not been shown a draft of the bill, Maddox told The Courier Journal the outline alone is concerning.

"I cannot fathom under the bright sun that there would be language narrowly tailored enough that I would ever support something like this," Maddox said.

The most "egregious" portion of the bill to Maddox is its call to expand wiretapping powers for local and state law enforcement, with the outline saying it would allow them to "partner with the federal government to obtain wiretaps to investigate heinous crimes and gangs."

In the GOP press release for the bill, Rep. Kevin Bratcher of Louisville said Kentucky is one of only a handful of states preventing law enforcement from using wiretaps and that it could empower them to prevent crime "with oversight and careful consideration."

"I'm blown away, frankly, that in a Republican supermajority they're contemplating wiretapping legislation," Maddox said.

While saying she understands the impetus, Maddox added that she has "tremendous concerns about the risk of abuse and the potential for violating right to privacy and the constitutional protections against unlawful search and seizure. That risk to me is too great, no matter how narrowly tailored."

On the flip side, this wiretapping provision has already drawn some bipartisan support, as Democratic Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg singled it out as a method to help local police address gangs.

Maddox took issue with several other provisions in the outline, including allowing for the involuntary confinement of the mentally ill. Saying there are measures to be contemplated to get such people help and treatment, she added that this provision "just gives me great pause... I could just see that going to a very dark, deep place" that would create issues.

Rep. Jason Nemes one of the GOP members at the bill's unveiling, tweeted Wednesday that this provision is for when a judge says a dangerous person cannot stand trial because they cannot assist in their defense, yet a psychiatrist says they must be released because they aren’t mentally unstable enough, adding "we close that loophole and say stand trial or be held."

Maddox also raised a red flag at the "three strikes" portion of the bill, as it requires a sentence of life without probation or parole for people convicted of a third violent felony.

"I do get a little bit cautiously minded whenever it looks like we're taking something that should be the discretion of the judge and putting it into the legislature's hands, particularly given that our prisons and jails are so overcrowded," Maddox said.

She also questioned whether the portion of the proposal requiring mandatory completion of a sentence for those who commit an offense with an illegally possessed firearm would hold up in court, considering recent federal court rulings.

Maddox said it was unfortunate a draft of the bill has not yet been made public, as the release of its outline raises many questions that legislators, stakeholders and the media should be able to examine "versus speculating."

"They're doing press conferences about it, so let's find out what's in it, right?" Maddox asked.

ACLU calls bill a step backward on criminal justice reform

Also bringing up concerns with the plan and the lack of a publicly available draft is Kungu Njuguna, a policy strategist for the ACLU of Kentucky.

"Because we haven't seen the actual bill language, we are calling on members to release the actual bill so we can have an informed discussion about the legislation," Njuguna said. "Without seeing the actual bill, it is hard to discuss and have a real conversation about their proposals. They should release them now."

The ACLU is part of Kentucky Smart on Crime, a coalition of liberal and conservative organizations seeking criminal justice reform, largely through reducing prison overcrowding — which Njuguna fears much of the plan will undermine.

"We need to get out of the dichotomy of soft versus tough and work on real solutions that address the root causes of crime," Njuguna said. "The notion that locking people up and locking them up for longer times makes us safer has already been proven not to work. If Kentucky were its own country, we'd be seventh in the world in incarceration."

Njuguna noted the state legislature recently convened a jail and corrections task force to examine this issue, with jailers testifying about their overcrowding problem. "Now they want to add to that?"

He shared concerns over the bill's provision on involuntary confinement of the mentally ill, noting that court systems for years have been working to decriminalize serious mental illness.

"Are there protections for due process?" Njuguna asked. "Individuals with mental serious mental illness have constitutional rights and we need to make sure that those rights are protected, and without the actual bill language to see what is going on in that provision, that's concerning."

Njuguna also questioned a provision giving business owners civil and criminal immunity for using "reasonable force" to detain shoplifters, saying current laws are sufficient and "we should not be risking serious physical injury or death over property."

The Louisville Urban League also issued a statement Friday blasting the GOP plan, saying that while it identified real problems, it was "vengeful, reactionary, and, frankly, just bad policy."

"The legislation is a wishlist of antiquated, debunked, and problematic ideas regarding criminal justice: criminalizing poverty and addiction, deepening disparities in our judicial system, and simply seeking to throw people away," Urban League interim CEO Lyndon Pryor said. The bill is "political red meat full of dog whistles and coded language manipulatively targeting the uninformed while masquerading as substantive change."

More: Wiretaps, '3 strikes' and a state police post: Louisville lawmakers unveil crime plan

The leadership of House Democrats has not yet specifically reacted to the GOP proposal, issuing a statement saying they hope to advance "bipartisan 'smart on crime' initiatives" that preserve constitutional rights and keep incarceration costs from skyrocketing.

The GOP bill was unveiled in the heat of Kentucky's race for governor between Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron, with the general election just five weeks away. Cameron has been endorsed by the Kentucky FOP and has put fighting crime near the top of his campaign's messaging, while Beshear has touted increased pay for state troopers and record-low inmate recidivism rates.

Reach reporter Joe Sonka at jsonka@courierjournal.com and follow him on Twitter at @joesonka.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kentucky anti-crime plan met with concerns over civil liberties