Legislation

These bills would make it a crime to camp, sleep, or shelter on public property. They specify that law enforcement officers give anyone who violates this law a warning. If the person does not move in a specified timeframe, they can be charged with a Class C misdemeanor (48 hours in the case of SB 285, 24 hours in HB 1431).

SEJR 1 has passed out of the Indiana General Assembly once again and will be headed to voters' ballots in November.

Senate Bill 11 and HB 1119 represent a disturbing and barbaric escalation of state power. Instead of shifting away from capital punishment, both bills would allow the state to execute people by firing squad under certain conditions. HB 1119 would also allow the use of nitrogen hypoxia – which causes suffocation. The United Nations says the method “will likely violate the prohibition on torture.” Both bills would allow these violent execution methods to be implemented behind a veil of secrecy that would make it practically impossible to investigate mistakes, unsafe practices, or constitutional violations. We oppose these bills because they are inhumane and push Indiana further down the path of expanding the death penalty — a cruel, irreversible practice that should be abolished.