Republicans in the North Carolina House of Representatives are attempting to slip a provision into the budget bill that would restrict state prosecutors' ability to dismiss or reduce charges for people arrested for their involvement in protests.
The provision was flagged Tuesday by Democratic state Rep. Marcia Morey.
"The biggest surprise in the House budget bill is to force prosecutors to explain why they dismiss or offer plea bargains to people in any 'civil disorder' charges," she wrote. "Legislative crack down on protesters and now leads to ceack down on DAs. Legislative insanity."
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The provision in question, which applies to "civil disorder" crimes commonly charged during protests that turn violent, states: "Any prosecutor shall enter detailed facts in the record of any civil disorder case explaining orally in open court and in writing the reason for the prosecutor's action if the prosecutor does any of the following: (1) Enters a voluntary dismissal, (2) Accepts a plea of guilty or no contest to a lesser included offense, (3) Substitutes another charge, by statement of charges or otherwise, if the substitute charge carries a lesser mandatory minimum punishment, (4) Otherwise takes a discretionary action that effectively dismisses or reduces the original charge."
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Republicans in state legislatures across the country have sought for years to increase punishments for rioting or other protest-related offenses, a push that was further galvanized by the police brutality protests that erupted in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Protests that have erupted across the country over U.S. aid and arms sales to Israel in the middle of the occupation of Gaza have once again pushed the issue to the forefront.
In some cases, Republicans have sought to increase penalties as well as create laws that make it harder to sue drivers who injure protesters with their cars if the protesters are blocking the road.