SB 196

SB 196: a revision of 893.3, the Firearm Sentencing Enhancement statute. It removed the Judge's safety Valve that said if he found the sentence was to harsh he could impose whatever sentence he wished. The revision would have raised the absolute minimum to 3 years, for violent felonies that end in a firearm fatality.

A few weeks ago, SB 196 passed through the Senate without opposition, 37-0. Today, the bill failed to pass on the House floor, 33-50. Of course, the criminal defense attorneys in the House opposed it. So did the Black Caucus, which is interesting because in my mind a minimum sentence is color-blind and would be applied fairly to everyone. Concerns raised included taking away Judicial discretion (for goodness sake, we have minimums for purse snatching and cock fighting! 3-40 years is a lot of discretion), prison overcrowding (so we let the violent criminals go and keep the non-violent ones in?) 2nd amendment rights (wouldn't law abiding gun owners want a penalty for those choosing illicit gun use?) and that we shouldn't make laws based on one case. To us, this bill wasn't about our case, and thankfully the entire Senate and 33 representatives understood that. Nothing will change the outcome of our case--the judge is still on the bench, the murderer is walking the street and Austin is still dead. We supported this legislation because violent felonies that end in firearm fatalities rise to the level of a mandatory minimum sentence. All lives matter, all lives have value.
We may have lost this battle but the war isn't over.