The following op-ed is written by Kentucky State Senators John Schickel and Danny Carroll and State Representative Kevin Bratcher
The increase in violent crime across our nation and Kentucky’s cities should not surprise us. The Kentucky legislature the last several years has set the table for it. House Bill 463 reduced penalties for drug offenders. There is so-called “juvenile justice reform” to severely restrict judges from using juvenile detention in the state.
Violent juvenile crime has exploded in our cities. Police in Louisville tells lawmakers that no consequences for crime are a big problem in the city. Now there are proposals by the Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition and some justices on our Kentucky Supreme Court to eliminate cash bail. Policymakers have reduced criminal penalties, and the Governor released thousands of convicted felons out of our prisons and onto Kentucky streets using the COVID-19 pandemic as the excuse. Law enforcement personnel have been demonized and restricted in performing their duties. Then, as serious crimes increase, we wonder why. Quite simply, public policy is becoming increasingly soft on crime.
A misleading claim that has been perpetuated is that drug treatment is very effective. The truth is that drug treatment has a higher recidivism rate than for those who are released from prison. Punishment has its place in the criminal justice system.
A new term has been coined for people who traffic and use illegal drugs. It is referred to as “substance abuse disorder,” as if it’s a sickness like any other sickness such as breast cancer, a heart attack, or even COVID-19. It is as if the person who is doing this has no personal responsibility for their actions and that it can be treated like any other sickness. The facts show this is simply not true. Drug treatment has its place and should be used. However, justice should be our first priority.
Louisville small businesses were forced to board up their windows last summer, and downtown was an area avoided by many. As the city endured 170 record-breaking homicides and carjackings increased 160% to 211 last year, there were—and still are—calls from the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to eliminate cash bail. First of all, this is an expressed constitutional right laid out in the Constitution of Kentucky. Secondly, this would completely eliminate the ability of locally elected judges to decide who should be held in jail and who should be released. These locally elected officials are in the best possible situation to make these critical decisions. However, advocates for no-cash bail want this decision to be made by an algorithm developed in Frankfort as a one-size-fits-all solution. This was tried in New York and California and has been a disaster. Ask any small business owner in New York City.
Despite these failed policies, interest groups outside Kentucky advocating for so-called “criminal justice reform” have spent thousands of dollars the last several legislative sessions advocating for their implementation here in the Commonwealth. Some of these groups are among the biggest spenders on lobbyists in Frankfort—hiring some of the best lobbyists Frankfort has to offer.
Kentucky Smart on Crime Coalition and the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce advocate for second chances, and certainly we all believe in that. However, we would like them to spend one day in court in Louisville or Covington to observe the proceedings. They would quickly realize we are not talking about second chances, but instead fourth and fifth chances. We are confident that our independent and locally elected judiciary is doing a good job setting bail and releasing people charged with crimes from jail. Appropriately, this decision should rest in their hands. As the misguided experiments in New York City—and now Louisville— have shown, well-intended do-gooders have hurt small businesses in these cities. Nothing is more devastating to small businesses and the vitality of a community than the perception that it is not safe.
As we move forward, hopefully, we will have learned from our mistakes. We hear a lot about mass incarceration, and there is no question that we have too many people in our prisons and jails. This is a reflection of our society as a whole and not the fault of the criminal justice system. The fact is that with these high incarceration rates, we had a historically low crime rate. However, recently criminals have been released onto our streets, yielding tragic consequences.
Senator John Schickel represents Kentucky’s 11th State Senate District, which includes all of Boone County. Senator Danny Carroll represents Kentucky’s 2nd State Senate District, encompassing Ballard, Carlisle, Marshall, and McCracken Counties. Representative Kevin Bratcher represents Kentucky’s 29th State House District in part of Jefferson County.
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Op-Ed: "Smart On Crime" is Soft on Crime - The River City News
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