Crime bill passes

Sunday, May 15, 2005

By Marc Powers

Nevada Herald

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State Rep. Scott Lipke pulled off a rare feat on Friday by securing final legislative passage of an omnibus crime bill.

As more and more proposed criminal statutes are rolled into the same bill, the degree of difficulty in steering such legislation through the General Assembly steadily increases.

Although most provisions likely would enjoy smooth passage on their own, small groups of lawmakers unhappy with various components usually combine for enough opposition to doom omnibus measures like this one.

Lipke's 178-page bill, however, easily cleared the House of Representatives 137-7 before the Senate voted 34-0 to send it to Gov. Matt Blunt to be signed into law.

Lipke, R-Cape Girardeau, said it has been at least five years and probably longer since the legislature last approved such a sweeping crime measure.

"Passing a regular bill is difficult," Lipke said. "It is even more difficult to pass an omnibus crime bill."

One of many key provisions of the sweeping legislation revises the state law criminalizing sexual misconduct involving a child, which the Missouri Supreme Court ruled unconstitutionally broad late last month.

State Rep. Rachel Storch, D-St. Louis, said the new language passes constitutional muster.

"When our children's safety is at risk, we cannot afford to have a loophole in the law that could allow sex offenders to go free," Storch said.

An emergency clause was attached to that provision so it will take immediate effect if the governor signs the bill into law. Most of the rest of the measure will take effect Aug. 28.

Another important change would subject repeat sex offenders who have committed at least one such crime involving a child under age 14 to lifetime electronic monitoring once released from prison.

Provisions fiercely opposed by black lawmakers earlier in the legislative session as being ripe for abuse by police were dropped from the final bill.

One removed section called for creating a new crime of failure to show identification to a police officer. Black lawmakers contended that would allow police during traffic stops to hassle passengers who haven't violated the law.

The other deleted section would have permitted police to hold felony suspects for up to 32 hours without being charged. The current 24-hour maximum remains, but the bill would increase hold times for misdemeanor suspects from 20 hours in existing law to be uniform with the detention limit for felony suspects.

Lipke said it was important to be sensitive to the experiences of black lawmakers, many of whom in previous debate told personal stories of being targeted for driving while black. Other portions of the bill would: n Create a felony crime for teachers who have sexual contact with students on public school property.

* Allow local governments to adopt ordinances requiring job applicants for certain occupations to be fingerprinted for criminal background checks.

* Criminalize videotaping in a movie theater.

* Bar those convicted of any federal felony or misdemeanor from being a candidate for elected office.

* Give juvenile courts jurisdiction over children under age 17 accused of possessing tobacco products.