• • Hunting the Wooly Mammoth 45,000 Years Ago
• • Check out MCC's Current Positions
• • Pro-Life Legislation Gets Early Hearing
• • Missouri House Takes Baby Steps on Ethics Reform
• • House Committee on Children and Families Hearing
• • Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of the Florida Death Penalty
• • Federal Sentencing Reform Bill Poised for Debate
• • Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• • Senate Committee Hears Bill on "Oppressive" Fines for Code Violations

A new archeological find in a frozen bluff overlooking the Arctic Ocean suggests that our human ancestors were hunting big game in the Far North as much as 45,000 years ago. An article in Science explains what may have drawn hunters North and its significance: 

Mammoths and other large animals, such as woolly rhinoceros and reindeer, may have been the magnet that drew humans to the Far North. "Mammoth hunting was an important part of survival strategy, not only in terms of food, but in terms of important raw materials-tusks, ivory that they desperately needed to manufacture hunting equipment," says lead author Vladimir Pitulko. The presence of humans in the Arctic this early also suggests they had the adaptive ability to make tools, warm clothes, and temporary shelters that allowed them to live in the frigid North earlier than thought. They had to adapt to the cold to traverse Siberia and Beringia on their way to the Bering Strait's land bridge, which they crossed to enter the Americas.

Legislative weeks can be very hectic; stories like this put things in perspective. We're in it for the long haul.

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If you visit mocatholic.org - the website of the Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC) - you can review MCC position bills and their legislative status. Revisit the MCC website regularly as the MCC is likely to take positions on additional bills as the session moves forward and more bills are introduced. When action is needed on major legislation, the MCC will send you action alerts.

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The Senate Committee on Seniors, Families and Children held a public hearing this week on legislation that would ban the donation of fetal body parts, mandate annual inspections of abortion clinics and require any doctor performing abortions to have surgical privileges with a hospital within 30 miles of the abortion clinic. SB 644 is sponsored by Senator Bob Onder (R-Lake St. Louis). 

Dr. David Eisenberg, the medical director of Planned Parenthood of St. Louis and Southwest Missouri, voiced opposition to the bill, indicating abortions were safer than most out-patient procedures. Committee member Jeanne Riddle (R-Fulton) responded that abortion was certainly not safe for the unborn child. 

Senator Maria Chappelle-Nadal (D-St. Louis), also a committee member, asked witnesses supporting SB 644 why pro-life advocates did not care about other life and death issues. She cited radioactive waste threats to citizens in her district and the lack of access to health care for the poor. Mike Hoey, executive director of the the Missouri Catholic Conference, responded that the Catholic Church supports expanding access to health care for the poor but that abortion is not health care but the destroying of human life. The MCC also provided written testimony. 

Support for SB 644 also came from Missouri Right to Life, Campaign Life, the Missouri Baptist Convention and several others. SB 644 is expected to be priority legislation for this legislative session. For more read this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article and this News Tribune article. Stay tuned for more.

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This week the Missouri House approved several bills on ethics reform, including

HB 1452, HB 1575, HB 1979, and HB 1983. In addition to adding to the current financial reporting required of public officials (HB 1452 and HB 1575), the bills include these reforms:

• Prohibits statewide officials, members of the Missouri General Assembly and officials whose appointments are subject to Senate confirmation from registering as lobbyists until one year after the expiration of their term in office. (HB 1979);
• Members of the Missouri General Assembly and statewide elected officials, while in office, may not solicit registered lobbyists for a position with a lobbying firm. (HB 1979);
• Prohibits members of the Missouri General Assembly and statewide elected officials from receiving compensation as paid political consultants on behalf of another individual who is candidate for, or is holding office, as a member of the Missouri General Assembly or as a statewide elected official. (HB 1983)

These proposals may be likened to layups in basketball, easy shots but not the three-pointers needed to win games. It will be interesting to see if the General Assembly tackles more substantive measures, such as banning lobbyists' gifts to legislators or setting limits on campaign contributions. Missouri is out of step with most states, which limit campaign contributions. Recall that the Stowers Institute spent $30 million in 2006 to convince voters to legalize human cloning (Amendment 2).

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The House Committee on Children and Families met Tuesday to discuss procedures and policies relating to abortion in Missouri. Peter Lyskowski, Department of Health and Senior Services' acting director, gave a comprehensive overview of Planned Parenthood of Columbia's legal standings, his department's correspondence with them this fall, and answered questions regarding abortion and pathology reporting procedures.

Many questions were raised about reforming reporting procedures so that it can be guaranteed the trafficking of body parts is not taking place at Planned Parenthood or other abortion providers, however, Mr. Lyskowski said he would defer to a medical professional to answer the details of those questions. He did say that more regulation could help, because as of now the requirement for tissue samples is very vague, stating that only a "representative sample" is necessary. 

Representative Franklin, committee chair, acknowledged that though committee members have different views on abortion, they are in agreement that no profit should be made from the aborted children's body parts. The committee will continue to meet throughout the session.

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Saying that it did not give jurors a sufficient role in deciding whether defendants should be put to death, the U.S. Supreme Court this week struck down part of Florida's death penalty system.  In an 8-1 decision in Hurst v Florida the Court found Florida's capital sentencing scheme violated the 6^th Amendment, which guarantees the right to trial by jury.  

Florida's sentencing procedure only requires "an advisory sentence" from a jury, the jury is not required to specify the factual basis for its sentencing recommendation. The sentencing judge must give "great weight" to the jury's recommendation, but only the judge ever provides written reasons why a case is eligible for a death sentence. "The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in the opinion of the Court.

Florida currently has about 400 inmates on death row.  It is not immediately clear how many inmates will be entitled to new sentencing hearings.

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In a rare bi-partisan effort both President Obama and Republican leaders in Congress have recently called for federal sentencing reform to be a top priority.  The Senate is currently poised to debate the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act (S. 2123).  The measure is sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). This bill would scale back some of the harshest mandatory penalties that contribute to mass incarceration and racial disparities in the federal system.

While the U.S. has always had some mandatory minimum laws, Congress greatly increased their use in the 1980s in response to drug crimes, particularly non-violent possession crimes.  The inflexible "one-size-fits-all" sentencing laws seemed like a quick-fix solution.  However, over time they have prevented judges from fitting the punishment to the crime and the circumstances of the offense.  The laws have also resulted in enormous costs to taxpayers and a diversion of funds from law enforcement.

You can help S. 2123 move forward by contacting your U.S. Senators (Sen. Roy Blunt and Sen. Claire McCaskill) at (202) 224-3121 and urging them to support this bi-partisan sentencing reform act and urge for its passage in the near future.

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Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. In his address to Congress last year, Pope Francis spoke of Dr. King and his dream for a more just America:

"Here too I think of the march which Martin Luther King led from Selma to Montgomery fifty years ago as part of the campaign to fulfill his 'dream' of full civil and political rights for African Americans. That dream continues to inspire us all. I am happy that America continues to be, for many, a land of 'dreams.' Dreams which lead to action, to participation, to commitment. Dreams which awaken what is deepest and truest in the life of a people."

Dr. King called people to a higher ideal. Let us pray that leaders today will have the courage to speak up for the most vulnerable among us - the unborn, the frail elderly, the poor without work, the mentally ill, the homeless, and all those whose voices are overlooked when powerful special interests predominate.

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A Senate committee this week heard testimony from a resident of the City of Pagedale that she was fined so frequently by her St. Louis County municipality that she had to take out a loan to pay the fines back.

Valarie Whitner, a 17 year resident of Pagedale, said she has been fined for having chipped paint, missing shingles, and for failing to keep her lawn cut. One landlord from St. Louis County even testified that he sometimes will be fined by a municipality in the County because a tenant has a flat tire. 

Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Glendale) has filed SB 572, which would limit the amount of money a municipality can collect on code violations as a percentage of the city's total revenue.  Last year, he filed a bill limiting how much cities can collect from traffic citations.  That bill passed.  He is now hoping to add code violations to the list.

Read a St. Louis Post Dispatch article about the bill here. 

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