Providing that prior convictions of a crime that is determined unconstitutional by an appellate court shall not be used for criminal history scoring purposes unless the basis of the determination of unconstitutionality by the appellate court is later overruled or reversed.
Impact
If enacted, HB 2401 would significantly alter the landscape of criminal history evaluations in Kansas. Currently, prior convictions contribute to an individual's criminal history score and can impact sentencing outcomes. By excluding unconstitutional convictions, the bill seeks to promote fairness and justice within the judicial system, allowing offenders who were penalized under invalid laws to have their pasts treated with greater leniency. This aligns with a larger trend in criminal justice reform, focusing on reducing recidivism driven by outdated and unjust legal precedents.
Summary
House Bill 2401, proposed in the state of Kansas, addresses the treatment of prior criminal convictions that have been deemed unconstitutional by appellate courts. The bill stipulates that such convictions shall not be counted for criminal history scoring purposes, unless the ruling of unconstitutionality is later overturned or reversed by a higher court. This legislative attempt aims to reform sentencing practices by acknowledging the wrongful application of laws that no longer hold constitutional validity.
Contention
However, the bill is not without its contention. Critics may argue that the exclusion of certain convictions could undermine public safety or lead to perceived leniency for repeat offenders. There may be concerns regarding the subjective nature of determining which convictions are unconstitutional and the potential for abuse of these provisions by defendants attempting to evade responsibility for their actions. The bill's supporters, on the other hand, champion it as a necessary reform to rectify historical injustices within the criminal justice system, and as a necessary measure for promoting rehabilitation over punishment.
Requiring certain persons on a third or subsequent conviction of driving under the influence to participate in a multidisciplinary model of services for substance use disorders, removing the requirement that municipal courts collect fingerprints from persons convicted of violating certain municipal ordinance provisions, amending the crime of aggravated endangering a child to increase the criminal penalties when bodily harm to the child results and when a child is in certain environments associated with fentanyl-related controlled substances, increasing the criminal penalties for unlawful distribution of fentanyl-related controlled substances, eliminating the element of concealment from the crime of breach of privacy related to installing or using a device to photograph or record another identifiable person under or through the clothing being worn by that other person or another identifiable person who is nude or in a state of undress, excluding certain types of incarceration time from being included in the allowance for time spent incarcerated when calculating a criminal defendant's sentence and updating the general terms of supervision for offenders on probation and postrelease supervision.
Enacting the reduce armed violence act to increase the criminal penalties for certain violations of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon that involve firearms.
Senate Substitute for HB 2010 by Committee on Judiciary - Updating a statutory cross reference to provide proper jury instruction in cases when a defendant lacks the required mental state to commit a crime; increasing the penalty for certain violations of criminal discharge of a firearm when a person was present in the dwelling, building, structure or motor vehicle at which the offender discharged a firearm; enacting the reduce armed violence act to increase the criminal penalties for certain violations of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon that involve firearms; providing that the service of postrelease supervision period shall not toll except as otherwise provided by law; and allowing certain nondrug offenders to participate in a certified drug abuse treatment program.
Creating the crime of reproductive coercion that includes coercion to obtain an abortion or to gain control over the reproductive autonomy of another person by force; providing penalties.
Enacting the reduce armed violence act to increase the criminal penalties for certain violations of criminal possession of a weapon by a convicted felon that involve firearms.
Adding possession or using a firearm during the commission of certain drug crimes to the crime of criminal use of weapons and creating a special sentencing rule of presumptive imprisonment for violations thereof.
Senate Substitute for HB 2436 by Committee on Federal and State Affairs - Creating the crime of coercion to obtain an abortion and providing enhanced criminal penalties for offenses committed with the intent to coerce a woman to obtain an abortion.
Creating the crime of coercion to obtain an abortion and providing enhanced criminal penalties for offenses committed with the intent to coerce a woman to obtain an abortion.
Increasing the criminal penalties for battery of a healthcare provider, adding the placing of controlled substances into pills into the definition of manufacture, increasing the criminal penalties for manufacturing fentanyl and for manufacturing or distributing any controlled substances that are likely to be attractive to minors because of their appearance or packaging, creating a special sentencing rule to make sentences for distributing fentanyl presumptive imprisonment, excluding materials used to detect the presence of fentanyl, ketamine or gamma hydroxybutyric acid from the definition of drug paraphernalia, adding domestic battery and violation of a protection order to the crimes that a person can have the intent to commit when committing burglary or aggravated burglary, increasing criminal penalties for the crime of interference with law enforcement when the violation involves fleeing from a law enforcement officer and authorizing the attorney general to prosecute certain crimes that are part of an alleged course of criminal conduct that occurred in two or more counties.
Increasing the criminal penalties for battery of a healthcare provider, adding the placing of controlled substances into pills into the definition of manufacture, increasing the criminal penalties for manufacturing fentanyl and for manufacturing or distributing any controlled substances that are likely to be attractive to minors because of their appearance or packaging, creating a special sentencing rule to make sentences for distributing fentanyl presumptive imprisonment, excluding materials used to detect the presence of fentanyl, ketamine or gamma hydroxybutyric acid from the definition of drug paraphernalia, adding domestic battery and violation of a protection order to the crimes that a person can have the intent to commit when committing burglary or aggravated burglary, increasing criminal penalties for the crime of interference with law enforcement when the violation involves fleeing from a law enforcement officer and authorizing the attorney general to prosecute certain crimes that are part of an alleged course of criminal conduct that occurred in two or more counties.
Modifying elements in the crimes of sexual exploitation of a child, unlawful transmission of a visual depiction of a child and breach of privacy, prohibiting certain acts related to visual depictions in which the person depicted is indistinguishable from a real child, morphed from a real child's image or generated without any actual child involvement, prohibiting dissemination of certain items that appear to depict or purport to depict an identifiable person, requiring affidavits or sworn testimony in support of probable cause to be made available to law enforcement, requiring the statement of facts sufficient to show probable cause justifying a search warrant to be made by a law enforcement officer, requiring that certain prior convictions be considered when bond is being set for certain sex offenses and specifying minimum requirements and conditions for such bond; relating to appearance bonds, requiring warrants for failure to appear to be given to sureties, allowing bond forfeiture to be set aside in certain circumstances and requiring remission in certain circumstances and prohibiting a compensated surety from making a loan for certain portions of the minimum appearance bond premium required.
Prohibiting entering or remaining on and knowingly making false statements to gain access to animal facilities and field crop production areas, providing penalties therefor and removing the intent to destroy property in the farm animal and field crop and research facilities protection act.
Prohibiting entering or remaining on and knowingly making false statements to gain access to animal facilities and field crop production areas, providing penalties therefor and removing the intent to destroy property in the farm animal and field crop and research facilities protection act.
Senate Substitute for HB 2047 by Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources - Requiring approval of livestock brand applications by the animal health commissioner, increasing the maximum amount for brand registration and renewal fees, prohibiting entering or remaining on and knowingly making false statements to gain access to animal facilities and field crop production areas, providing penalties therefor and removing the intent to destroy property in the farm animal and field crop and research facilities protection act.