Kentucky: "if a property owner believes an unhoused trespasser is attempting to commit a felony or attempting to “dispossess” them, they can shoot the homeless person."

On March 14, the Kentucky Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve HB 5, the “Safer Kentucky Act.” The legislation will now head to the Senate floor for a vote, and it will almost certainly pass. The 78-page bill criminalizes homelessness—and decriminalizes the use of deadly force against individuals engaging in “unlawful camping.” Under this law, if a property owner believes an unhoused trespasser is attempting to commit a felony or attempting to “dispossess” them, they can shoot the homeless person.

Kentucky lawmakers had lifted it, in part, from model legislation published by the Cicero Institute, a conservative think tank founded by Palantir alum Joe Lonsdale that focuses “on fixing broken systems in the public sector.”

According to the Cicero Institute, the think tank’s “model legislation has been enacted in Missouri, Tennessee, Texas and Utah,” and its homelessness policies have advanced in legislatures in 20 states.

The Safer Kentucky Act creates the opportunity for vigilantism against “violent crime”—with impacts far beyond the homeless population. The state already has strong “stand your ground” laws. Individuals do not have to retreat before using deadly force and are immune from prosecution or civil action. Police are also generally forbidden from arresting anyone who used such force. A 2022 study found that “stand your ground” laws led to an 8 to 11 percent increase in gun homicides and violent deaths. HB 5 expands these laws. In speech on the House floor, Democratic state Representative Keturah Herron argued that the bill “takes us back to 1955, when it was OK to hunt people down based on an accusation.”

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/kentucky-crime-bill/