INDIANAPOLIS —
Indiana may join a growing number of states that are reducing penalties for low-level drug crimes while increasing the punishment for violent criminals and sexual predators.
Under legislation filed Monday that rewrites much of the state’s criminal code, someone caught near a school with three grams of cocaine would no longer face a harsher penalty than a rapist, for example.
“It’s about restoring some fairness and proportionality to our system of criminal justice,” said Republican state Sen. Brent Steele, a key supporter of the bill and chair of the Senate courts and corrections committee.
The legislation calls for significantly reduced penalties for marijuana possession — though not decriminalization of pot as Steele has advocated for in the past.
Among the other changes: It increases the number of felony levels from the current four to six and spells out new rules for how prisoners could earn “credit time” for early release. It also gives judges more discretion over when to suspend prison sentences for some low-level crimes, but would add more violent crimes to the list of offenses with mandatory prison time.
The bill, more than 400 pages long, is modeled on recommendations from a legislature-appointed commission that called for overhauling the state’s criminal laws to make punishment more proportionate to the crime. Other states, including neighboring Kentucky, have followed a similar path.
Steele said the legislature’s history of being “tough on crime” has resulted in unfair and inconsistent laws and a criminal code that no longer contains like sentences for like crimes.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tightened the screws down in my 16 years of being here,” said the veteran lawmaker. “But I also understand what we’ve got right now isn’t fair.”
Steele, a lawyer from Bedford, is the lead author of the Senate version of the bill. It’s identical to the bill being carried by Republican state Rep. Greg Steuerwald, a lawyer from Avon who chairs the House judiciary committee.
Both are seen as conservative legislators, as is one of the bill’s champions, Republican Rep. Jud McMillin, a former deputy prosecutor from Brookville.
One of their central arguments for the bill is that Indiana’s prisons house too many low-level, non-violent offenders who could be better served in community-based correction programs that cost much less to operate. The bill’s fiscal impact statement estimates about 1,100 offenders a year would end up in local corrections programs rather than state prison.
“People who want to advocate being tough on crime need to be tempered by the fact that being tough on crime is tough on taxpayers,” McMillin said.
Steele said there are elements of the bill that some legislators won’t like because of fear they’ll be accused of being “soft on crime” when they face re-election.
The bill, for example, reduces the size of the “drug-free zones” around schools that give prosecutors the ability to bring tougher charges with longer prison terms. It would reduce the zone from 1,000 feet from a school to 500 feet.
While it restricts the amount of “credit time” that some offenders could earn by getting a college degree, it would make it easier for some low-level, non-violent offenders to get out early if they got training in a vocational trade while in prison.
Under current Indiana law, marijuana possession is a felony unless it’s a first time offense or the amount is less than one ounce. Under the proposed bill, possession of marijuana is reduced to a misdemeanor.
“There are some things in it that could be politicized,” said Steele. “But that’s why some of the things we need to do in the legislature don’t get ever done, because we’re afraid of what it’s going to look like.”
Maureen Hayden covers the Statehouse for the CNHI newspapers in Indiana. She can be reached at maureen.hayden@indianamediagroup.com.
State News
Bill offers re-write of state’s criminal code
- State News
-
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Indiana’s reported high school graduation rate continues to improve, moving from 77 percent to more than 88 percent in less than a decade, but there are still significant achievement gaps marked by race and income.
-
Schools chief Ritz on fast learning curve
For many occupants of the Indiana Statehouse, the week after the General Assembly wraps up its final frenzy of work is a quiet one. But not for Glenda Ritz.
-
SLIDESHOW: Governor Otis R. Bowen
Photos from the Indiana State Archives of the late Otis R. Bowen, who served as governor of the state as well as in the Ronald Reagan White House. The Bremen native died Saturday
-
Out of office, Lugar shuns retirement
One year ago, Indiana’s longest serving U.S. senator was rejected by Republican primary voters and forced into an unwelcome retirement from a distinguished political career that spanned 46 years. But at 81, former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar is hardly in a resting mode.
-
Lugar wary of Syria involvement
Former U.S. Sen. Richard Lugar has been out of office since early January, but he’s still being sought after for his opinion about foreign policy matters he once helped shape.
-
Budget deal includes little funding for criminal code reform
Facing the end-of-session deadline, Indiana legislators moved forward on a bill to overhaul the state’s criminal sentencing laws but left undone the issue of where local communities will get the money to implement it.
-
Legislators closing in on final budget
In his first four months as the chief budget maker in the Indiana House, Republican Rep. Tim Brown hasn’t been surprised by the long hours, multiple demands and intense debate that goes with crafting a $30 billion spending plan.
-
New poll shows voters tepid on Pence tax plan
With just days to go before the deadline for a final budget bill, a new independent poll shows Republican Gov. Mike Pence may not have gotten much mileage for his travels around the state pitching his 10 percent tax cut plan.
-
DOC hopes ‘cold case’ cards lead to solved cases
Indiana state prison officials are using customized playing cards for a deadly serious purpose: To help unlock the mysteries of unsolved murders and persons gone missing.
-
Indiana attorney general says Congress must act on immigration reform
Amidst concerns that the Boston Marathon bombing may derail federal action on comprehensive immigration reform, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller is turning up some collective heat on Congress to move ahead.
- More State News Headlines
-
Indiana’s high school grad rate continues upward
Conn. Commuter Trains Collide; 60 Go to Hospital
Coffee Run Leads to Hatchet Hitchhiker Arrest
Fmr. IRS Head Insists No Politics in Targeting
CDC: Fecal Bacteria Common in Swimming Pools
$1 Million in Jewels Stolen at Cannes Film Fest
NM Mom Chases Down Child Abductor
Raw: Crash Sends Car Into Fla. Pool
Raw: Obama Sits Down With Elementary Kids
Raw: Bear Falls From Tampa Tree
Ousted IRS Chief: Errors Not Caused by Politics
Terror Suspect Due in Court in Idaho Friday
Raw: Driver Ejected From Truck, Over Bridge
Could Tobacco Be the Next Biofuel?
Wash. State Releases Draft Rules for Legal Pot
Dying Man's Blinks Lead to Murder Conviction
Officials: Texas Tornado Likely Had 200 Mph Wind
Brothers Arrested in NOLA Parade Shooting
Raw: School Bus Crash Injures Five Children
Quick Response Saved Baby on Phila. Train Tracks
One Million Evacuated As Cyclone Hits Bangladesh
