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Legislators agreeon criminal codeThe Missouri House and benate have agreed in principle to reduce homosexuality from a felony to a misdemeanor in the proposed revision of the state‘s142-year-old criminal laws.Hie House has also added■to the Senate-approved version of the measure strict penalties for promoting child pornography, which if accepted by the Senate would make Missouri the first state to approve legal sanctions against “the purveyors of this filth, according to backers.But after nearly seven hours of debate on the massive 328-page bill on Tuesday and adoption of 27 of 31 proposed modifications, the House delayed any final action on the measure. Debate was scheduled to resume later today with about 10 more proposed amendments awaiting floor consideration.The differences between the House and Senate versions will have to be worked out by a joint legislative committee before the bill is returned to both houses for a final vote.While the House rewordedthe Senate’s provision on penalties for homosexuality and other sexual acts outside of marriage, both versions call for homosexuality to be considered .only a misdemeanor, subject to a maximum penalty of a $500 fine and a year in jail. Current state law makes homosexuality a felony with a minimum prison term of two years.But the House rejected a proposal to completely eliminate legal sanctions on sexual conduct between consenting adults, backers were able to muster only 28 supporters. The action came as Miami. Fla., voters repealed a local ordinance guaranteeing homosexuals equal rights in a referendum that gained national attention.“To equate conduct between consenting adults with a crime wave is nonsense.mobilizing our forces against crimes where there are victims.'’Youngdahl said he was unaware of any convictions for violation of the slate’s current laws.But independence Democrat Glen Binger, leading opponents of the move, called Youngdahl’s proposal “absolutely atrocious.“This is opening the door and putting the foot in to the first step toward legalizing (homosexual) marriages and adoptions,” Binger said, calling for homosexuality to remain a felony. “We want to keep this beautiful state of Missouri clean and there's no place for them (homosexuals) here.speech or freedom of the press ever envisioned this kind of insidious behavior, Rothman said. Conviction of promoting child pornography could mean imprisonment for life under the House provisions.“It’s got to be the worst method of making a dirty buck I have seen,” the speaker said. “The production of child pornography is a form of murder.House Speaker Kenneth Rothman and Asst. Republican Floor Leader Jack Bueehner combined to add the strict penalty sections for child pornography, contending it will keep child Demographers out of Missouri.“I don’t think the guarantees of freedom ofRecent investigations have uncovered a nationwide network for child pornography, prompting consideration of penalties for the activity in a number of states as well as in Congress,The overall revision bill is intended to update and simplify the state’s criminal code, and it avoids making substantial changes in criminal statutes. Proposals to recodify the criminal laws have cleared the House in the past but have been stalled in the Senate.Tonight-TV SpeiyoUTH1 *said Rep. Mark Youngdahl, D-St. Joseph, who led the unsuccessful drive. “There are no victims here. This is the time we should beWesternCarolinaCrusadeCLIFF BARROWSricn bev/cdiv cue a
Newspaper Details
Jefferson City Post Tribune
Jefferson City, Missouri, US
Wed, Jun 08, 1977
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USA 11 Apr 2021
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