ICYMI: Dem-NPL Criminal Justice & Public Safety Legislation

***Release***
ICYMI: Dem-NPL Criminal Justice &
Public Safety Legislation

(BISMARCK, ND) – Representative Karla Rose Hanson outlines a few of the successes she and her Dem-NPL colleagues championed this legislative session and notes some of the bad bills introduced by Republicans that would have undermined public safety.

·    Representative Mary Schneider (D-Fargo) successfully championed a “ban the box” bill to give people with criminal backgrounds a better chance at employment.
·     Representative Josh Boschee, (D-Fargo) and Senator Erin Oban (D-Bismarck) co-sponsored a bill to seal the criminal records of individuals who have kept a clean slate for so many years.
·     Representative Ruth Buffalo (D-Fargo) sharpened the state’s focus on missing and murdered indigenous people with a package of bills, including a remedy to the fact that North Dakota doesn’t have a missing persons database.

Hanson notes, “Unfortunately, however, some members of the majority party proposed bills that would have undermined public safety, had they passed.”

·     Representative Jeff Magrum (R-Hazelton) introduced a dangerous Stand Your Ground bill.
·     Representative Rick Becker (R-Bismarck) wanted to prohibit sobriety checkpoints and attempted to stop law enforcement from enforcing violations of federal firearm laws.
·    Representative Sebastian Ertelt (R-Lisbon) wanted to defy federal rule by legalizing bump stocks.
·    Representatives Ertelt and Becker, along with Representatives Todd Porter (R-Mandan) and Pat Heinert (R-Bismarck) tried a variety of ways to allow people to carry a concealed weapon into public places like schools, churches, and sporting events.

Having safe communities where families can thrive is what helps people achieve their American dream. Dem-NPL legislators used this session to prove that this can be accomplished, while still making efficient use of taxpayer dollars.

You can read her entire Op-Ed here

---

---

-30-