The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 8, Sen. Steele’s bill to amend the death penalty statute, I.C. 35-50-2-9, to add decapitation or attempted decapitation of the victim as a death penalty aggravator. In discussion, Committee members agreed with Sen. Steele that decapitation might possibly be found to not be incorporated in the present death penalty a … [Read more...] about Death penalty aggravator
Possession of paraphernalia
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 37, Sen. Bray’s bill to amend the possession of paraphernalia statute by removing possession of “raw material” as a basis for liability. Several amendments to the bill were presented by Sen. Bray and adopted by consent: (1) “rolling paper” was defined and removed from the paraphernalia definition; (2) the I.C. 35-48-4-3 Class … [Read more...] about Possession of paraphernalia
DOC specialized vocational program
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 173, Sen. R. Michael Young’s bill to establish a DOC specialized vocational program. Sen. Young explained that the bill would require the DOC to establish a program to train minimum-security offenders in trades such as truck driving, manufacturing, plumbing, heating, and air conditioning. Sen. Young said that the Department … [Read more...] about DOC specialized vocational program
Sentence modification
The Senate Corrections and Criminal Law Committee heard SB 174, Sen. R. Michael Young’s bill to make the application of the 2014 sentence modification statutory changes retroactive to crimes committed before July 1, 2014. Sen. Young noted that there was disagreement in the criminal justice system about the issue and that several appeals about it are pending. The disagreement was ma … [Read more...] about Sentence modification
Identifying information for adoptions
The Senate Judiciary Committee heard SB 352 pertaining to identifying information for adoptions authored by Sen. Steele and Sen. Delph. Sen. Steele stated that the bill authorizes adoptees adopted between 1941 and 1993 to access their own adoption information to the same extent as adoptees adopted before 1941 and after 1993. Testimony was taken in support of this bill by several … [Read more...] about Identifying information for adoptions