Louisiana Attorney General issued the following announcement on Dec. 13.
Attorney General Jeff Landry has joined 35 of his colleagues from across the country urging the American Law Institute (ALI) to reject proposed changes to Section 213 of the Model Penal Code. If enacted, these changes would not only weaken the ability of states to prosecute sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation and trafficking crimes; but also restrict the ability of law enforcement to protect the public from recidivist behavior.
“Sex crimes are horrific offenses that can leave long-lasting, harmful effects on victims, their families, their friends, and our communities,” said Attorney General Landry. “These dangerous proposals present a direct threat to public safety; we cannot allow criminals to have more protection than the victims they traumatize.”
In a letter to the ALI, Attorney General Landry and his peers wrote: “As Attorneys General, we urge the ALI to consider the danger the proposed changes would pose to the public, especially children, and abandon its plans to amend this article... The revisions contemplated fail to treat sex predators appropriately and would provide them more freedom to commit these heinous crimes again, putting the citizens we represent at greater risk of becoming victims.”
Landry noted the proposed changes are riddled with problematic language that will hinder prosecutors from doing their jobs and obtaining justice for crime victims. If implemented, this code would exclude criminal liability for those who knowingly benefit from their participation in sex trafficking. It would also reduce the number of crimes requiring registration and remove public access to registration lists.
“Louisiana has some of the strongest laws regarding human trafficking and sexual predators,” concluded Attorney General Landry. “It is important that we do not let federal code override the great work being done here to make our State safer.”
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