BATON ROUGE, LA – 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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Attorney General Jeff Landry
was joined by the Attorneys General of Mississippi, Hawaii, Arizona, Arkansas,
Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,
Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico,
North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South
Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virgin Islands,
Virginia, and West Virginia.
