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: Grits for Breakfast

Bills boosting penalties make statements rather than solve problems

More new, increased criminal penalties are coming down the pike this session, it appears, likely adding to the 2,324 separate felonies Texas already has on the books.Sen. Jackson's latest oyster enhancement passed out of committee. Trey Martinez-Fischer (and many others) want to boost penalties for owners of dogs who attack children. Meanwhile, Mike Ward reports that computer hacking into government systems may become a felony, even if no data is taken, if a bill by Sen. Kel Seliger that just passed the Senate becomes law.Dave Montgomery at the Fort Worth Star Telegram has a story about a bill to make theft of livestock a third degree felony no matter how small the animal's value; it passed the Senate on a 29-2 vote. The bill will be another good test case to measure whether increasing criminal penalties deters crime, as evidenced by this exchange on the Senate floor:Sen...continue to full post

Full post as published by Grits for Breakfast on April 18, 2009 (boomark / email).