Cigarettes; deemed litter for purposes of criminal punishment for improper disposal of trash. (HB114)
Introduced By
Sen. Joe Morrissey (D-Richmond)
Progress
✓ |
Introduced |
✗ |
Passed Committee |
☐ |
Passed House |
☐ |
Passed Senate |
☐ |
Signed by Governor |
☐ |
Became Law |
Description
Littering; cigarettes, civil penalty. Includes cigarettes specifically in the category of things deemed litter for purposes of criminal punishment for improper disposal of trash. The bill also provides that in lieu of the imposition of the Class 1 misdemeanor criminal penalty, the court may order the defendant to perform community service in litter abatement activities. If the offense involves a cigarette or cigarettes, the court shall order the payment of a $100 civil penalty payable to the Litter Control and Recycling Fund established in 10.1-1422.01 in addition to the imposition of such community service. Read the Bill »
Outcome
Bill Has Failed
History
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 01/03/2012 | Committee |
| 01/03/2012 | Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/11/12 12102562D |
| 01/03/2012 | Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice |
| 01/13/2012 | Assigned Courts sub: Criminal |
| 01/16/2012 | Subcommittee recommends laying on the table |
| 01/20/2012 | Impact statement from DPB (HB114) |
| 02/14/2012 | Left in Courts of Justice |
Comments
stupid law by someone with to much time on their hands.
I don't understand why cigarettes aren't considered litter to begin with, so if this is what it takes to keep people from discarding cigarettes on public ground, please make it happen.
I agree with Jules. Will we need a law for chewing gum wrappers too?
The full text of the bill modifies the existing law's specification of "trash, garbage, refuse, litter, a companion animal for the purpose of disposal, or other unsightly matter" to add "cigarettes" to the list. A cigarette butt is obviously trash, and I don't understand why we'd start down the slippery of specifying everything that is trash. The only basis on which this makes sense is if there have been incidents of judges dropping charges against people for littering when the trash being discarded improperly is cigarette butts. Then there'd be a real problem that legislative action is a reasonable venue for correcting.
Not really knowing the details but looking at the paragraph that was deleted involving the higher fines and jail time, it appeared that courts weren't willing to put people in jail or fine them $2500 for tossing butts, which has essentially protected them from "litter status," so they are now reducing the fine and clarifying that in fact they are litter. Just a guess. Either way, I can't wait to see fewer of them everywhere.
Well done and no we don't need to include gum wrappers. Pull up to an intersection and look at the ground. What do you see...... CIGARETTE BUTTS, no fast food wrappers, no gum wrappers, CIGARETTE BUTTS!!!!!
Plus, a paper food wrapper is at least biodegradable, a CIGARETTE BUTT is NOT!
Well done!
In Singapore they don't have any problem identifying cig butts or gum wrappers as trash. So apparently the GA doesn't want anyone arrested for dumping a single cig butt. How about if you dump a full ashtray with 100 butts in it on the ground?