Bill Description: House Bill 281 would create enhanced penalties, including mandatory minimums, for crimes against certain individuals based on their employment.

Rating: -2

NOTE: House Bill 281 is related to House Bill 183, introduced earlier this session. While House Bill 281 does not apply its enhanced penalties and mandatory minimums to misdemeanors, it has the same fundamental problems as HB 183. 

Does it directly or indirectly create or increase penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes? Conversely, does it eliminate or decrease penalties for victimless crimes or non-restorative penalties for non-violent crimes?

House Bill 281 would amend Section 18-915, Idaho Code, to create an enhanced penalty of up to life in prison, including a mandatory minimum of 15 years imprisonment, for "a violation of section 18-905, 18-907, 18-909, or 18-911, Idaho Code, against a peace officer."

These code sections refer to the crimes of aggravated assault, aggravated battery, assault with intent to commit a serious felony, and battery with intent to commit a serious felony, respectively. The difference between simple assault and aggravated assault is that the latter typically involves the use of a weapon. Even aggravated assault does not require the actual (or even attempted) infliction of harm, however. "An intentional, unlawful threat" coupled with the possession of "a deadly weapon or instrument without intent to kill" is aggravated assault under Idaho law. 

If a husband and wife were arguing in the kitchen, for example, and the wife pulled a knife out of the knife block and pointed at her husband, and said something like, "I ought to stab you for saying that to me," she would have committed aggravated assault, even if she had no intent to carry out her threat. If the husband were a police officer, she would be subject to a mandatory minimum of 15 years’ imprisonment. 

The standard penalty for aggravated assault is up to 5 years' imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $5,000. The standard penalty for aggravated battery or assault with intent to commit a serious felony is up to 15 years' imprisonment. The standard penalty for battery with intent to commit a serious felony is up to 20 years' imprisonment. None of these crimes carry a mandatory minimum period of imprisonment.

The enhanced penalty of up to life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 15 years imprisonment would apply to any law enforcement officer, regardless of if he is on the job or in uniform when the crime occurs. There is no requirement that the crime has a nexus to the officer's employment, which is why the enhanced penalty would apply even if the perpetrator were the officer's spouse. 

The bill would also amend Section 18-4004, Idaho Code, to increase the mandatory minimum period of incarceration for murdering a peace officer from 10 years to 35 years. 

The fundamental problem with all mandatory minimum laws is that it is always possible for extenuating circumstances in a specific case to make a mandatory minimum sentence manifestly unjust. This means that mandatory minimum sentencing laws fundamentally subvert the notion of justice, which requires broad judicial discretion regarding sentencing.

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Does it violate the principle of equal protection under the law? Examples include laws which discriminate or differentiate based on age, gender, or religion or which apply laws, regulations, rules, or penalties differently based on such characteristics. Conversely, does it restore or protect the principle of equal protection under the law?

The enhanced penalties and mandatory minimums created by House Bill 281 would apply only to crimes committed against a peace officer.

Equal protection under the law is a foundational principle of Western justice, yet this bill compounds the problem of treating crimes as more serious based on the profession of the victim. Treating members of some professions as a protected class and then declaring that someone who violates the rights of individuals in that class has committed a more severe crime violates the principle of equality under the law. 

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