News

Ky. State Legislature to Consider `Blue Lives Matter` Bill

James Mayse

12/13/2016

Dec. 13--Bills filed for consideration in next year's General Assembly include two that would increase criminal penalties for people charged with assaulting or attempting to kill police officers.

State legislators begin meeting next month for the odd-year short legislative session. A variety of criminal justice-related bills have been filed, including a bill that would classify attempted murder of a police officer or firefighter as a violent offense if the officer or firefighter was acting in the line of duty when the offense occurred.

In Kentucky, the violent offender statute says anyone convicted of a violent offense must serve at least 85 percent of his or her sentence before becoming eligible for parole. Attempted murder does not fall under the violent offense classification, which means a person convicted of attempted murder now would eligible for parole after serving 20 percent of the prison sentence.

The bill was filed by Rep. Gerald Watkins, a Paducah Democrat. Watkins said "it's absolutely ridiculous" that a person charged with attempting to kill a law enforcement officer is not considered a violent offender under state law.

Watkins said he was motivated to first file the bill last year after hearing about a 2014 incident where a man made a false domestic violence complaint to 911 dispatch, and then attempted to shoot the responding McCracken County sheriff's deputy from an ambush site in some nearby woods.

The judge in the case "said 'he'll serve 22 months before he'll be out,' " Watkins said.

The bill passed the House last year, but ran into trouble in the Senate.

"The Senate wanted any attempted murder to be a violent offense, which I fully support," Watkins said. But making all attempted murder convictions subject to the violent offender statute would cost the state $48 million for incarceration, Watkins said.

The change is necessary to protect law enforcement, he said.

"They are just targets, especially right now," Watkins said.

He plans to discuss the bill with House leadership and also with members of the Senate Judiciary committee, he said.

Another law enforcement bill would classify an attack against a law enforcement officer, firefighter or emergency responder as a hate crime. The bill has several sponsors, although the primary sponsors are Rep. Kevin Bratcher, a Louisville Republican, and Rep. Joseph Fischer, a Ft. Thomas Republican.

"They're calling it the 'Blue Lives Matter' bill," Bratcher said. "If you attack a police officer, firefighter or EMT simply for doing their job or being what they are, it's considered a hate crime" under the bill.

Classifying such an attack at hate crime "gives the court more tools to prosecute and sentence" the offender, Bratcher said. "Louisiana passed it last year, and I wanted Kentucky to be the second state" with a hate crime provision for law enforcement.

Fischer said Kentucky does not have an increased criminal penalty for hate crimes. Instead, if a person is found to have committed a hate crime, the judge can use that as a factor when deciding to deny probation. The state parole board can also deny parole to a person who was judged to have committed a hate crime.

"In Kentucky, a hate crime is a sentencing option," Fischer said. ... You may end up staying in prison longer, but there's no additional penalty."

The motivation for the bill did not come out of any specific event, but because legislators wanted to support law enforcement, Fischer said.

"Kentucky has been spared (instances of) violence against police officers" experienced more frequently in other states, Fischer said. "But we do have areas of concern. Nothing in my area of Kentucky has motivated it." Rather, legislators were motivated by "a general respect for our first responders," he said.

Legislators will reach out to organizations like the Fraternal Order of Police and firefighter and EMT associations to see if they support the measure, Fischer said. "I suspect they do."

James Mayse, 270-691-7303, jmayse@messenger-inquirer.com, Twitter: @JamesMayse