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).

In Indiana, only the legislature can place constitutional amendments on the ballot for voters to decide — and it is a rare and multiyear process. A proposed amendment must pass the General Assembly (both the House and Senate) in one legislative session and then pass again (with identical language) in the next session after a general election. At that point, it is placed on the ballot in the next general election, and voters can approve or reject it with a simple majority. This Senate Joint Resolution has already passed one session, and the General Assembly is considering it for a second. If it passes again, voters in the 2026 election will be asked whether or not bail can be denied for a person who is deemed “a serious risk to others or the community.” Right now, the state constitution says that people charged with crimes other than murder or treason are eligible for bail. We oppose this amendment because it contains vague language that will keep more people who haven’t been convicted of a crime in Indiana’s overcrowded jails. Lawmakers should be working on the broken cash bail system, rather than contributing to mass incarceration.

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.