What the Deseret News Editorial board forgets to tell you is that an assault on
a fellow human being, except police and legislators, is still a misdemeanor
under current Utah law. You could have every bone in your body broken and be
sent to the hospital for life in an assault, and the perpetrator would still be
cited for a misdemeanor. As the victim of an assault 12 years ago, I am
against the passage of the so called "Henry's law" unless the same
protections are granted to other human beings first.
To use your same argument about parity in the law, if you broke into my house
tonight and slashed up a $1000 painting of my dog, you'd be a felon. If you
slashed up my actual dog, you would walk away with a slap on the wrist. That
doesn't sound right either, does it? The answer is not to complain about a
painting being valued higher than a dog, or animals higher than humans (although
"torturing" a human would certainly get a lot higher penalties than are in
Henry's bill). The point is to make the law that you're fixing better fit the
crime it pertains to. And people who torture animals deserve more than
misdemeanor punishment.
What the Deseret News Editorial board forgets to tell you is that an assault on a fellow human being, except police and legislators, is still a misdemeanor under current Utah law. You could have every bone in your body broken and be sent to the hospital for life in an assault, and the perpetrator would still be cited for a misdemeanor.
As the victim of an assault 12 years ago, I am against the passage of the so called "Henry's law"
unless the same protections are granted to other human beings first.
Good point, Bob Morey. I agree that the same protections should be granted to people. Most definitely.
"Henry's law" is about cruelty and abuse. Not simple assault.
Where a human place another in an Oven, would that be considered just 'assault'?
To use your same argument about parity in the law, if you broke into my house tonight and slashed up a $1000 painting of my dog, you'd be a felon. If you slashed up my actual dog, you would walk away with a slap on the wrist. That doesn't sound right either, does it? The answer is not to complain about a painting being valued higher than a dog, or animals higher than humans (although "torturing" a human would certainly get a lot higher penalties than are in Henry's bill). The point is to make the law that you're fixing better fit the crime it pertains to. And people who torture animals deserve more than misdemeanor punishment.
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