Smart parents don’t let little children play with matches.
In some Republican families, alas, matches and gasoline make for a great afternoon of fun.
To cite a couple of examples coming out of the new session of the Missouri legislature: House Bill 520 and House Bill 541.
Introduced by Rep. Shane Roden (R – Cedar Hill), a third-termer, HB 520 would make several prominent prosecuting attorneys criminals:
A prosecuting attorney commits the offense of failure to prosecute if he or she fails to commence a case or bring a charge against a person after law enforcement notifies the prosecuting attorney of a violation of state law and there is probable cause of such violation.
This bill makes non-prosecution a class E felony.
Elected prosecutors have always had discretion on which cases to take to court and which to bargain down to a lesser charge. Quite frankly, some “crimes” aren’t worth the effort to take to court. That’s how the system works. If voters think a prosecutor has gone soft – or ineffective – they can vote in a new prosecutor.
This bill would allow police and sheriff departments to challenge a prosecutor’s decision not to charge.
Who would they complain to? The attorney general:
HB 541 — PROSECUTION OF A VIOLATION OF STATE LAW
SPONSOR: Murphy
This bill specifies that law enforcement may forward a case to the Attorney General’s office for review if, after law enforcement notifies the prosecuting attorney of a violation of state law for which there is probable cause of such violation, the prosecuting attorney decides not to commence a case against the person. After review, if the Attorney General determines there was probable cause of a violation of state law, the Attorney General may prosecute such case.
Rep. James Murphy (R – South St. Louis Co.) won his seat in November.
Okay, there’s the answer, now for the question. Who are these bills targeting?
Surprise! Democratic prosecutors in the state’s largest jurisdictions, specifically St. Louis County’s Wesley Bell, the city’s Kim Gardner and Jackson County’s Jean Baker who have all three said that they will no longer take to court basic pot possessions cases.
Yes, it is still against state law to have or use marijuana – even if most Missourians aren’t too concerned about it.
Remember, in Missouri the law is an ax to swing at political adversaries. Maintaining Jefferson City’s power over other elected officials remains a supreme edict. Just as in prior years the legislature took away from locals the power to set their own minimum wage or ban plastic bags, this year punishment gets directed against duly elected Democratic prosecutors.
And, if Bell, Gardner or Baker were to be convicted under HB 520’s terms, that felony conviction would throw them out of office despite the will of voters.
Of course, most bills have yet to be assigned to a committee, yet alone be scheduled for a vote in the House and Senate.
Still, how many within the super majority would do the right thing, follow long-standing legal tradition and vote against enforcing state law?
I can already hear the children scraping matches against the sidewalk.
Glenn