Friday - October 21, 2005

Stealing Is Now Legal In Alabama

Leave it up to the state legislators in my old home state to make asses out of themselves. I sometimes wonder where the brains are in that august body of worthy southern politicians ... or even if any of them have brains. Through a quirk of language, a recent bill passed that altered the language referring to horses and asses in criminal cases. It turns out the asses were the legislators who didn’t proofread the bill ... or it could be they were just horsing around. Either way, they erased from the books a section that made theft illegal, so if you’re in Alabama this weekend, feel free to take whatever you want. It’s all free ...

Legislative Mistake Wipes Out Theft Law
MONTGOMERY, Alabama (MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER)

What started with taking the words “ass,” “mule” and “horse” out of state code has ended with the creation of a loophole in state law. A 2004 mistake by Alabama legislators has eliminated the code that says it’s a crime in Alabama to steal property valued between $1,000 and $2,500.

Area prosecutors say the inadvertent deletion has not caused much trouble in prosecuting alleged law breakers, but is something the Legislature needs to change. “We’ve tried to get around it as best we can,” said Randall Houston, district attorney for Elmore, Autauga and Chilton counties.

The foul-up happened when Rep. Richard Lindsey, D-Centre, put in a routine bill backed by the Alabama Horse Council to change the words “horse,” “mule” and “ass” to “equine” and “equidae.” Lindsey’s bill inserted the word “equine” into state code 94 times while inadvertently using outdated language for other parts of the code that neither he nor anyone else meant to change.

The bill sailed through the Legislature and was signed by the governor without anybody noticing that it eliminated the crime of second-degree theft. “I would suspect that people really haven’t been wise to it,” said Joseph Van Heest, president of the Alabama Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Lindsey did not know about the loophole until the Advertiser told him about it. After looking up the code language, Van Heest said he would use the glitch if defending a theft charge.

“I would probably argue that, yes, you can’t be convicted,” he said. On Thursday, Lindsey had no idea that his bill had eliminated a law. But the Alabama District Attorneys Association has noticed it, and pushed for a correction earlier this year during the 2005 regular legislative session, only to be thwarted by a Senate feud that locked down the upper chamber in weeks of filibuster. “The theft cases are not usually the ones that go to trial,” said Michael Jackson, district attorney for Bibb, Dallas, Hale, Perry and Wilcox counties.

Posted by The Skipper     on 10/21/2005 at 11:43 AM   
Filed Under: • Crime • Politics •  
• Comments (7) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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