LA ‘Blue Lives Matter bill’ Goes Into Effect Today in Louisiana

From: The Marshall Project as referenced in and linked to in The Dallas News opinion piece linked to above:

Are Cop-Killings on the Rise?
Only if you look at very limited data.


https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/07/27/are-cop-killings-on-the-rise#.KR79ib6KT

“It will not be clear for several years whether the higher numbers for the first half of 2016 represent a trend. The number of law enforcement officers killed while on duty has fluctuated significantly by year, and percentages can look outsized because the total numbers are so small when set against the total number of sworn officers in the U.S. — 900,000, according to the memorial fund.

The numbers compiled by the memorial fund, as well as by a similar website, the Officer Down Memorial Page, are the most recent available. They are from private groups rather than the federal government. The FBI does track how many law enforcement officers are killed “feloniously” each year, but does not release figures in real time; the official government numbers for 2015 have not come out yet (preliminary statistics were published in May), and the counts for this year won't come out until 2017.”​

I was thinking about this and how it might be confusing in some ways - like mass killings in Norway. There are very few deaths from them, but because of Breivik's shooting it looks like they happen often. This year we have several killings of more than one officer. Is it the incidents that are up, or is it the number of actual officers who have been shot that's going up? IMO five officers shot in Dallas at once is not the same as five officers shot in Dallas over the course of a year. (I am not suggesting one is better or worse, only that they are different and show different trends and occurrences.)

It will be interesting to see what the 2016 numbers look like once they're released.
 
I was thinking about this and how it might be confusing in some ways - like mass killings in Norway. There are very few deaths from them, but because of Breivik's shooting it looks like they happen often. This year we have several killings of more than one officer. Is it the incidents that are up, or is it the number of actual officers who have been shot that's going up? IMO five officers shot in Dallas at once is not the same as five officers shot in Dallas over the course of a year. (I am not suggesting one is better or worse, only that they are different and show different trends and occurrences.)

It will be interesting to see what the 2016 numbers look like once they're released.

Precisely.
 
This is about cops being targeted<modsnip>. Plain and simple it's about protecting LEO's from ANYONE who would plot to bring them harm. And its apparent from the recent events that this is a needed thing.
 
I'm quite supportive of the new elevation of the classes of violent felonies that the new Blue Lives Matter legislation. Below is the sentencing guidelines for violent felonies in New York (for the link in my post above). It's easy to see that an elevation from a violent Class C to a violent Class B felony is significantly more prison time, as well as the elevation from a violent Class B to a Violent Class A felony-- which is a minimum 20 year sentence.

This legislation, IMO, becomes especially significant when what is promoted as a "non violent protest" rapidly escalates into a full on riot.

What will be needed, IMO, is firm resolve to arrest each and every violent protester who is throwing things at police officers, like frozen water bottles and rocks, and not busting down their charges or granting pleas for lesser charges because defense attorneys try to persuade judges and juries that a "water bottle" is not a weapon. A frozen water bottle is just as much of a weapon as a rock or brick, and protesters are intentionally carrying around frozen water bottles because they are "innocuous", intending to use them as weapons against police. Carrying rocks and bricks arouses more suspicion. Likewise, intentionally trying to run over a police officer with a car can be justifiably a Violent Class A felony under almost all circumstances, as another example.

As a society, we cannot be tolerant of riot behavior that specifically targets police officers and innocent civilians.

These laws will also give more "tooth" to charges when suspects actively resist arrest, and physically attack and fight with police officers.

Offense Sentence

'A' Violent Felony Life, 20-25 years
'B' Violent Felony 5-25 years
'B' Non Violent Felony 1-3, Max 25 years
'C' Violent Felony 3 1/2 to 15 years
'C' Non Violent Felony No Jail, Probation, 1-2 years to 15 years
'D' Violent Felony 2-7 years
'D' Non Violent Felony No Jail, Probation, 1-3 to 7 years
'E' Violent Felony No Jail, Probation, 1 1/2 to 4 years
'E' Non Violent Felony No Jail, Probation, 1 1/3 to 4 years

http://ypdcrime.com/penal.law/felony_sentences.htm

‘Blue Lives Matter’ Bill Would Grant Cops Hate Crime Protection From Protesters in New York

“It’s based on this climate in this country right now where police officers are being abused and they’re being disrespected, and we’re seeing they have a target on their back, in Louisiana and in Dallas,” he said. “You can envision this happening at a protest, where somebody might throw a rock or a bottle or a punch.”

New York state law presently upgrades any offense deemed a hate crime to the next level of severity. Castorina’s bill would thus turn assault on an on-duty cop from a Class C felony to a Class B Felony, and cases of aggravated assault on a police officer—where the attacker intends to cause serious harm—from a Class B felony to Class A.

This would mean much harsher sentencing for offenders, who already face anywhere from three-and-a-half to 30 years in prison. Louisiana has already enacted its own Blue Lives Matter bill, and Texas is considering a similar measure.

http://observer.com/2016/08/blue-li...t-cops-hate-crime-protection-from-protesters/

BBM
 
There is nothing in the Blue Lives Matter Bill/Act that relates to race of perpetrators or victims, yet this thread has been hijacked by posts about BLM, POC, racism in general.

Out of respect for scmom who started this thread, it will remain open for now. However, over 75% of this thread has been unapproved, and Mods/Admin don't have time for this.

We've seen too much of this in numerous threads lately. If we receive too many Alerts of off-topic violations in this thread, it will unfortunately close down and violators may be subject to Time Outs for the violation and ignoring moderator warnings.
 
The proposed Federal Blue Lives Matter bill-- HR 4760, introduced in March. It gained 2 sponsors in the past few weeks, and now has 16 co-sponsors.

It's pretty short-- just about 2 pages. Interesting ramifications for federal versus state level prosecution, should this bill be enacted as law. This kind of legislation is a loophole around double jeopardy, as a person can be tried at the state level alone, the federal level alone, or BOTH.

A snip:

&#8220;§ 250. Hate crimes against police officers

&#8220;(a) In General.&#8212;Whoever, in any circumstance described in section 249(a)(2)(B) of this title, knowingly causes bodily injury to any person, or attempts to do so, because of the actual or perceived status of the person as a police officer&#8212;

&#8220;(1) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

&#8220;(2) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if&#8212;

&#8220;(A) death results from the offense; or

&#8220;(B) the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/4760/text
 
Florida, Kentucky, New York, Tennessee and Wisconsin are considering 'blue lives matter' bills. I'm sure there are others.

After Dallas shooting, Florida legislators announce plan to file &#8220;Blue Lives Matter&#8221; bill

http://thecapitolist.com/after-dall...announce-plan-to-file-blue-lives-matter-bill/

Kentucky and Tennessee Lawmakers to Vote on Blue Lives Matter Bills

http://bluelivesmatter.blue/kentucky-tennessee-lawmakers-vote-blue-lives-matter-bill/

Wisconsin considering &#8220;Blue Lives Matter&#8221; bill

http://nbc4i.com/2016/07/12/wisconsin-considering-blue-lives-matter-bill/

New York is the latest state to consider making it a hate crime to assault cops

https://www.yahoo.com/news/york-now-latest-state-consider-000000155.html
 
Inside the fight against Louisiana&#8217;s &#8216;Blue Lives Matter&#8217; law


"The law expands on already existing strict legal protections for police officers, said S. Mandisa Moore-O&#8217;Neal, a civil rights attorney and BYP member in New Orleans. &#8220;If I slap you, that&#8217;s a simple battery. If I slap a police officer that&#8217;s battery of a police officer,&#8221; O&#8217;Neal explained. &#8220;We already have a precedent of law enforcement, anything involving law enforcing, having heightened punishment attached to it. This isn&#8217;t about law enforcement not being safe, it&#8217;s part of a political agenda.&#8221;

"A letter by BYP, sent to the Governor&#8217;s office via email on May 25, urged him not to sign the bill. &#8220;Violence against the police is not a pervasive issue that merits special protection for law enforcement, and furthermore those protections already exist under current state law,&#8221; the letter said, &#8220;and thus if this legislation is enacted, it will most certainly be used to target protesters whose practices and goals are both just and legal." Bingo.

http://fusion.net/story/308796/fight-against-louisianas-blue-lives-matter-law/
 
The above comments by S. Mandisa Moore-O’Neal (a radical activist known to "Incite" and promote violence) were sent via email Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Clearly the Louisiana legislature, and Louisiana Governor Edwards didn't agree with her ideas, as the legislation passed by both parties was signed into law by Gov. Edwards less than 24 hours later, on Thursday, May 26, 2016.

Note that the legislation was introduced, debated by both parties, and signed into law BEFORE the massacre of LEOs in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

Yes, assaulting, targeting, ambushing, and murdering LEOs and first responders is already a "special circumstances" crime. A large swath of the general public, legislators, and elected officials believe that additional protections for LEOs and first responders are necessary. There are very, very few voices that don't agree.

And quite frankly, the additional protections are necessary, in the form of elevated charges and additional prison time, precisely because offenders are given so many opportunities to "bust down" their REAL crimes to lesser charges.

Yes, I do hope the new laws will be applied to peaceful protests that are NOT peaceful at all, and target LEOs with vile, disgusting, and violent criminal behavior. Their behavior, in the context of a "protest" is far MORE egregious, IMO, than "ordinary" criminal assaults on LEOs, even though the law will not discriminate between those that assault officers during a protest, or not.

Organizers and participants of activities which promote violence toward LEOs need to begin to be held criminally accountable for their words and actions when they urge, incite, promote, and equip their followers to target, hurt, and kill LEOs. That is hate speech, and should be a hate crime, IMO. All speech is not free speech. Urging people to kill police officers falls into the category where it should not be protected free speech, IMO. It's the same as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater when there is no fire.

Likewise, saying, believing, or writing "all lives matter", should not result in this in America. Saying you support everyone's life as valuable and worth protecting, is now being demanded to be treated as "hate speech". Go figure. Only in America can such pure idiocy flourish, in our ivory towers of enlightened academia, no less! (Which are less enlightened, and more tyrannical, every day, IMO. Special snowflakes, indeed.)
Student facing 50 day suspension for saying 'All Lives Matter'

Politically correct tyranny is afoot at the University of Houston.

I was recently made aware of a student at the university who was suspended for 50 days by the student government association and ordered to attend diversity training over a reference she made about the Black Lives Matter crowd. (She can still go to class but she can't participate in student government activities.)

“#ForgetBlackLivesMatter; more like AllLivesMatter,” wrote Rohini Sethi, the vice president of the school’s student government association.

Ms. Sethi wrote those words last month just a few hours after five Dallas police officers were assassinated.

They were among several predominantly African-American groups who demanded that Ms. Sethi be punished for exercising her First Amendment rights.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016...y-suspension-for-saying-all-lives-matter.html

This is quite astonishing in its pure and unadulterated racist hate-based stripping of her rights. I'm sure she has had many offers for excellent legal representation, and is in the process of filing a number of lawsuits.
 
The above comments by S. Mandisa Moore-O&#8217;Neal (a radical activist known to "Incite" and promote violence) were sent via email Wednesday, May 25, 2016. Clearly the Louisiana legislature, and Louisiana Governor Edwards didn't agree with her ideas, as the legislation passed by both parties was signed into law by Gov. Edwards less than 24 hours later, on Thursday, May 26, 2016.

Note that the legislation was introduced, debated by both parties, and signed into law BEFORE the massacre of LEOs in Dallas and Baton Rouge.

Yes, assaulting, targeting, ambushing, and murdering LEOs and first responders is already a "special circumstances" crime. A large swath of the general public, legislators, and elected officials believe that additional protections for LEOs and first responders are necessary. There are very, very few voices that don't agree.

And quite frankly, the additional protections are necessary, in the form of elevated charges and additional prison time, precisely because offenders are given so many opportunities to "bust down" their REAL crimes to lesser charges.

Yes, I do hope the new laws will be applied to peaceful protests that are NOT peaceful at all, and target LEOs with vile, disgusting, and violent criminal behavior. Their behavior, in the context of a "protest" is far MORE egregious, IMO, than "ordinary" criminal assaults on LEOs, even though the law will not discriminate between those that assault officers during a protest, or not.

Organizers and participants of activities which promote violence toward LEOs need to begin to be held criminally accountable for their words and actions when they urge, incite, promote, and equip their followers to target, hurt, and kill LEOs. That is hate speech, and should be a hate crime, IMO. All speech is not free speech. Urging people to kill police officers falls into the category where it should not be protected free speech, IMO. It's the same as yelling "fire" in a crowded theater when there is no fire.

Likewise, saying, believing, or writing "all lives matter", should not result in this in America. Saying you support everyone's life as valuable and worth protecting, is now being demanded to be treated as "hate speech". Go figure. Only in America can such pure idiocy flourish, in our ivory towers of enlightened academia, no less! (Which are less enlightened, and more tyrannical, every day, IMO. Special snowflakes, indeed.)


http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2016...y-suspension-for-saying-all-lives-matter.html

This is quite astonishing in its pure and unadulterated racist hate-based stripping of her rights. I'm sure she has had many offers for excellent legal representation, and is in the process of filing a number of lawsuits.

Fifty days seems extreme, but they made the right decision. Maybe she'll learn something.
 
Inside the fight against Louisiana&#8217;s &#8216;Blue Lives Matter&#8217; law


"The law expands on already existing strict legal protections for police officers, said S. Mandisa Moore-O&#8217;Neal, a civil rights attorney and BYP member in New Orleans. &#8220;If I slap you, that&#8217;s a simple battery. If I slap a police officer that&#8217;s battery of a police officer,&#8221; O&#8217;Neal explained. &#8220;We already have a precedent of law enforcement, anything involving law enforcing, having heightened punishment attached to it. This isn&#8217;t about law enforcement not being safe, it&#8217;s part of a political agenda.&#8221;

"A letter by BYP, sent to the Governor&#8217;s office via email on May 25, urged him not to sign the bill. &#8220;Violence against the police is not a pervasive issue that merits special protection for law enforcement, and furthermore those protections already exist under current state law,&#8221; the letter said, &#8220;and thus if this legislation is enacted, it will most certainly be used to target protesters whose practices and goals are both just and legal." Bingo.

http://fusion.net/story/308796/fight-against-louisianas-blue-lives-matter-law/

That's exactly what it's for. It's some kind of twisted one-upmanship.
 
The Louisiana House of Representatives has 105 members--

60 Republicans
42 Democrats
3 Independents

The Blue Lives Matter Hate Crime legislation bill passed with an astonishing unanimous 91/0 vote. No dissent. None. That's nearly unprecedented.

The Louisiana Senate has 39 seats:

25 Republicans
14 Democrats

The Blue Lives Matter legislation bill passed the Senate with a vote of 33/3. Only 3 dissenting votes. That's a landslide, no matter which state you live in, or which party you belong to.

A total of 124 legislators voted to pass the bill; only 3 dissented. That's as good as ANY bill will ever get, anywhere. It's truly astonishing. There was essentially NO dissent to this bill, despite the above posted article with an email from an activist. There was no way the governor was not going to sign that legislation, IMO-- and he is a democrat!

And remember, all of the debate, committee hearings, and votes occurred BEFORE the Dallas and Baton Rouge police officer massacres.

There is enormous support for Blue Lives Matter legislation nationwide, from both major political parties. I think we will see more and more bills introduced this session. The federal bill introduced in March (also introduced BEFORE the Dallas and Baton Rouge massacres) will be heard and voted on in September, from what I'm reading. Before the general election.
 

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