A new Republican-backed bill in the Kentucky legislature has been accused by critics of trying to legalize “deadly physical force” against the homeless in certain scenarios.
The bill, dubbed the “Safer Kentucky Act” but officially known as HB5, was introduced in the Kentucky legislature last week by Republican state representative Jared Bauman and has already garnered 52 co-sponsors, with a vote set to take place next week. The bill includes a sweeping number of provisions, but critics of it have put a particular spotlight on its anti-homeless measures.
HB5 includes provisions that deem the use of force “justifiable” against homeless people camping on their property if they believe that criminal trespass, robbery, or “unlawful camping” is occurring on said property. Going further, the bill also deems “deadly physical force” justifiable if a defendant believes a homeless individual is attempting to “dispossess” or rob them of their property, or committing arson.
While introducing the bill, Bauman defended its provisions and insisted that HB5 is intended to focus “on accountability for serious criminal behavior.” Critics, meanwhile, have warned that it will result in unnecessary violence and death.
Speaking at the same gathering where Bauman introduced the bill, Louisville Councilwoman Shameka Parrish-Wright warned that HB5 could essentially criminalize poverty. Louisville is the most violent city in Kentucky, with a rate of 6.9 violent crimes per 1,000 residents, according to a May 2023 report. While Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg stressed that a solution is needed, he also cast doubt on whether HB5 is the bill to do so.
“There is broad consensus that Louisville has a serious violent crime problem,” Mayor Craig Greenberg told The Courier-Journal newspaper. “There is less consensus on how to effectively solve that problem.”
“We’re going to get people killed, that is just the unfortunate fact,” Lyndon Pryor, CEO of the Louisville Urban League, told Vice. “We have decided that as a society some people are not worthy of human respect and dignity and we are able to treat them in completely inhumane ways.”
“This is teeing up vigilantism against people experiencing homelessness on a scale that we’ve never seen before,” Eric Tars, the senior policy director at the nonprofit National Homelessness Law Center, told the outlet. “It’s a really concerning escalation.”
HB5’s likelihood of passing in the Kentucky state legislature is strong, as Republicans hold sizeable majorities in both. While the state does boast a Democratic governor in Andy Beshear, the GOP majorities in the legislature are large enough to override his ability to veto bills.
Newsweek reached out to Beshear and Bauman’s offices via email for comment.
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