PA Senator’s Bid To Protect First Responders Goes Nowhere
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Pennsylvania Senator Pat Toomey has had enough of citizens taunting police. The last straw was the ambush in Compton California. Toomey said from the floor of the senate, “We hope they die. We hope they die. We hope they die. These are the vile words that anti-police protesters yelled on Saturday night outside St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles County, California. They were yelling that about two deputy sheriffs who, at the time, were clinging to life inside the hospital. They were clinging to life, just barely, because earlier that night those two deputy sheriffs were brutally ambushed by a gunman who shot them multiple times as they sat in their patrol car simply doing their jobs patrolling the local train station.”
He has proposed apiece of legislation called “The Thin Blue Line Act” . When a jury in a federal case considers whether to impose the death penalty, the jury must consider certain “aggravating” factors. Current law states that if the murder victim is a federal law enforcement officer or federal prosecutor, this fact shall weigh as an aggravating factor in favor of the death penalty. The Thin Blue Line Act provides the same level of justice to local law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and first responders. It also enhances the penalty when a defendant targets a law enforcement officer, prosecutor, or first responder solely because that individual has chosen to protect and serve.
That bill was blocked by Senate Democrats. This bill passed in the house recently, with bipartisan support.