Lawmakers want to make it tough for lawbreakers

Maybe it's the election year. Maybe some lawmakers think it's just time to get a little tough. Whatever the reason, the 1-day-old 2006 Legislature already has more than a dozen bills introduced to enhance criminal penalties, corral wrong-doers or otherwise punish wayward citizens.

Deseret Morning News graphicGet-tough billsRequires Adobe Acrobat.

From getting at parents of truant children, illegal carriers of prescription drugs, trespassers, fathers not paying child support, even unbuckled vehicle passengers, a wide range of people are targeted in the proposed new laws.

Taken together, Utahns would face stiffer fines, longer jail or prison sentences.

In many cases, the legislators want to send a message to citizens and law enforcers alike.

"I'm guessing 85 percent of kids who go the parlor and get tattooed don't have their parents' permission" as current law requires, said Rep. Dave Ure, R-Kamas.

His HB227 moves unlawful tattooing of a minor from a Class C misdemeanor ($500 fine, three months in jail) to a Class B misdemeanor ($1,000 fine, six months in jail).

"We have to raise it up; get those (parlor) operators' attention," Ure said. "It's not being enforced now. And a tattoo can be with a person for life."

But Dani Eyer, executive director of the Utah chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said while the new bills are not trivial or unimportant, having so many collectively raises the question of whether you can make a better society by more and more criminalizing of behavior.

"America already locks up a greater percent of our population than most other nations. And we've found that stiffer penalties are not always a deterrent," Eyer said.

Rep. Joe Murray, R-Ogden, said everyone assumes that if you are pulled over for another offense, and a passenger in your car is not wearing his seat belt, "the passenger can get ticketed."

"But he can't, even though (police) are writing tickets to the passengers and the passengers are paying the fine," Murray said.

"I thought: 'We should do this — everyone figured it was the law anyway.' It's not. Some smart attorney probably got a (passenger) ticket, knew the code, and got out" of paying the fine, Murray said.