Emotion not evidence fuels rush to lock up even more Kentuckians • Kentucky Lantern Kentucky Lantern
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House Bill 5, the “Safer Kentucky Act,” is emotion-based legislation, rather than the evidence-based legislation Kentucky deserves. Legislators and research organizations who presented data and asked hard questions were stonewalled at every step of development of this legislation, which became law over Gov. Andy Beshear’s veto.
Kentucky has the eighth harshest criminal sentencing statutes in the U.S., according to The Sentencing Project, even before HB 5, which will significantly increase penalties, takes effect. Facts about the decrease in crime rates in Kentucky and the unknown billions of dollars HB 5 will cost, were drowned out by “tough-on-crime” sermons, photos of crime victims, and incessant crime stories on our televisions and computers.