Animal Cruelty Conviction List; established. (HB1354)
Introduced By
Del. David Ramadan (R-South Riding) with support from co-patron Sen. Bill Stanley (R-Moneta)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✗ |
Passed Committee |
☐ |
Passed House |
☐ |
Passed Senate |
☐ |
Signed by Governor |
☐ |
Became Law |
Description
Animal Cruelty Conviction List established. Requires the Superintendent of State Police to establish and maintain an Animal Cruelty Conviction List available to the public on the website of the Department of State Police by 2017. The list shall include the names of persons convicted of certain felony animal cruelty offenses on or after July 1, 2015. Persons so convicted will be required to pay a fee of $50 per conviction to fund the maintenance of the list. The bill requires the State Police to remove a person from the list after 15 years if he has no additional felony conviction of a relevant animal cruelty offense. Read the Bill »
Outcome
Bill Has Failed
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 12/02/2014 | Committee |
| 12/02/2014 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/14/15 15100455D |
| 12/02/2014 | Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice |
| 01/13/2015 | Assigned Courts sub: Criminal Law |
| 01/19/2015 | Impact statement from DPB (HB1354) |
| 01/27/2015 | Assigned Courts sub: Criminal Law |
| 01/28/2015 | Subcommittee recommends laying on the table |
| 02/10/2015 | Left in Courts of Justice |
Comments
No evidence exists that creating the list will reduce, much less prevent, animal cruelty. The bill is punitive in nature. State government should not be burdened with managing a list of offenders unless there is clear and convincing evidence of its positive effect on public safety. The fiscal impact of similar 2014 legislation, SB 32, is nearly $1,000,000.
The Commonwealth’s similar registry for sex offenders punitively characterizes 80% of registrants as violent based only on the offense committed, giving the public no ability to reasonably determine risk. The animal cruelty conviction list is yet another proposal to publicly shame offenders and burden taxpayers with an expense that provides no public safety benefit.
There are persuasive arguments that the registry results in more harm than good, especially for juveniles. …the registry has morphed into misguided public policies that divert limited public resources away from truly productive measures to reduce sexual offending - primarily prevention.
Brandt, MSW, LICSW, Joel. "Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment: Failure to Register: Are Violations Overblown?" Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment: Failure to Register: Are Violations Overblown? N.p., 13 June 2013. Web. 13 June 2013. .
I'm still waiting for Ramadan to get the Courage to protect the public from drunk drivers, Drunk Drivers murder, cripple and repeat their crimes more than any other group.