High-Tech Burglars May Get Longer Sentences In Louisiana

Hugh Pickens writes "Burglars and terrorists should be careful not to use Google Maps if they plan on committing crimes in the state of Louisiana. Nola reports that a bill approved 89-0 by the Louisiana House will require that judges impose an additional minimum sentence of at least 10 years on terrorist acts if the crime is committed with the aid of an Internet-generated 'virtual map.' The bill, already approved by the Louisiana Senate, defines a 'virtual street-level map' as one that is available on the Internet and can generate the location or picture of a home or building by entering the address of the structure or an individual's name on a website. If the map is used in the commission of a crime like burglary, the bill calls for the addition of at least one year in jail (PDF) to be added to the burglary sentence. The House measure is now being sent back to the Senate for approval of clarifying amendments made by a House committee."

Comments

Why?

[squiggleslash]

What the hell difference does it make whether someone used Google maps?

Re:Why?

[ArchieBunker]

Because it scares the old and technology illiterate people we call politicians. Half the supreme court doesn't know the difference between a pager and a cell phone.

Re:Why?

[Tim C]

Well, arguably it demonstrates premeditation; in reality it's probably going to be used rather like existing "extras", to bump up the sentence when desired. For example, it's perfectly legal to carry a crowbar or screwdriver in public. Use one while burgling a house or stealing a car, and suddenly you have "going equipped" added to the charge list.

Re:Why?

[Paranatural]

No shit. The only thing they want is to keep people in jail longer, without having to prove as much. Proving premeditation is hard, and just because you looked up someone's address doesn't automatically make it premeditation. This makes them 'hard on crime' that the conservatives down here get such hard dicks for. I hate my state sometimes.

Re:Why?

[Anonymous Coward]

This is primarily aimed at 'abuse' of street view to case neighborhoods. Use of overhead satellite imagery, while less effective is also targeted for similar reasons.

SWIM's experiences with casing wealthy neighborhoods is that, especially considering his/her lack of inconspicuous clothing, skin colour, and/or vehicle (or whatever else is required to fit into said neighborhood), the casing can actually be more likely to generate calls to police/heat/residents with firearms than the actual robbery (the actually robbery being well planned thanks to the casing).

The use of street view, more than showing premeditation, shows sophistication, reduces the chances of being caught, thus reducing the risk of this action, and therefore the attractiveness of robberies as a whole. This law attempts to compensate by increasing SWIM's potential sentence, thus increasing risk, and decreasing attractiveness of this mode of robbery.

Knee-jerk, as usual

[Rene S. Hollan]

The "high tech" map doesn't make the crime worse. It just serves as circumstantial evidence that it was premeditated. The harsher sentence should be imposed because the crime was planned, not because high tech was used.

Here's why the proposed law is bad:

1. It's way too specific. Why internet-generated maps? What about instructions to make burglary tools or improvised weapons?

2. If the use of "high tech" makes the punishment worse, is that not a condemnation of "high tech" itself? That would be a bad thing.

No, the thing that makes the crime worse is the premeditation, and the use of high-tech just offers evidence of this.

Re:Knee-jerk, as usual

[MachineShedFred]

So, this means Criminals should just use a Rand-McNally book instead, and shave a year off their potential sentence. Good law.

Re:Knee-jerk, as usual

[fustakrakich]

They're trying to dumb down the internet... Next they'll charge Google with aiding and abetting, and make them remove the maps altogether..

Re:Knee-jerk, as usual

[blair1q]

Er, burglary is always premeditated.

There's no way to accidentally burgle someone's house, or do it in a fit of passion, or in self-defense.

This law is no more or less a stupid abuse of legislative power than the classic example of passing a law saying that Pi is 3.0 instead of 3.14159...

it's a clear demonstration that plural voting is no way to prove validity.

Re:Knee-jerk, as usual

[dcollins]

"The 'high tech' map doesn't make the crime worse. It just serves as circumstantial evidence that it was premeditated. The harsher sentence should be imposed because the crime was planned, not because high tech was used."

"Premeditated" is an adjective only used when talking about murder, and used to distinguish different types of said act (as opposed to a crime of inflamed passion, for example). It is not used when talking about other types of crime.

Seriously -- How do you perform burglary without planning it?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premeditated

I have an idea

[jollyreaper]

Can we also give longer sentences to criminals who rip us off with exotic investment instruments instead of good old-fashioned grifts and cons?