Kentucky’s Democratic governor vetoed a GOP-backed criminal justice bill that would impose harsher sentences for a range of crimes, saying it would saddle the state with sharply higher incarceration costs.
The sweeping measure also would criminalize homelessness by creating an “unlawful camping” offense, Gov. Andy Beshear said in his veto message late Tuesday. The bill, which spurred some of the most contentious debates of the session, would make a multitude of changes to the state’s criminal code, enhancing many current penalties and creating new offenses, the Associated Press reports. Supporters portrayed the bill as a necessary policy shift that would do more to hold criminals accountable and to make communities safer. Opponents warned the measure would carry a hefty price tag for taxpayers with no assurances that the tougher approach would lower crime.
One prominent feature of the bill would create a “three-strikes” penalty that would lock up felons for the rest of their lives after committing a third violent offense. Beshear, a former state attorney general, focused on the financial implications in his veto message, saying it would lead to significantly higher incarceration costs without any additional appropriations. Beshear noted that he liked parts of the measure, including provisions requiring the destruction of firearms used in murders, making carjacking a standalone crime and allowing the state parole board to require parolees to participate in an “evidence-based program” designed to reduce violence. Those provisions should have been placed in separate bills, the governor said. The sweeping measure passed by wide margins in the Republican supermajority legislature. In his statement after the veto, Bauman said the measure is aimed at “providing law-abiding citizens a sense of safety, security and protection. These individuals, as well as those who are willing to work for a second chance, are our priority."
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