Sen. Daniel Thatcher (R)

SB 72 (Victim Selection Penalty Enhancements)

Libertas Institute opposes this bill.

This bill increases the level of a criminal penalty if a judge or jury finds that a person acted with "prejudice" against a person because of their ancestry, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, national origin, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Libertas Institute opposes this bill. Whether an assault was instigated by the aggressor's jealousy, drunkenness, anger, or discriminatory "prejudice" about the victim's personal characteristics is immaterial. Taxpayers should not be required to subsidize higher incarceration rates in pursuit of misnamed "social justice."