Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022
Did Mandela Barnes vote against a law that expanded penalties for ‘battery and threats’ against public officials?
When Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes — now the Democratic U.S. Senate candidate in Wisconsin — was a state legislator, he voted against a 2015 Republican-proposed bill that made it a felony to "intentionally cause bodily harm or threaten to cause bodily harm" to a judge, prosecutor, public defender or law enforcement officer acting in their official duties. The previous law designated only threats against judges and battery against judges and law enforcement officials as felonies.
Under both the old and the new laws, such crimes are Class H felonies, carrying a maximum penalty of six years of imprisonment and a $10,000 fine.
The Legislature approved the measure, with a bipartisan group of 80 lawmakers voting in favor of it — including all but one Republican. Barnes as one of 15 lawmakers who voted against it.
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- Wisconsin State Legislature 2015 Assembly Bill 347
- Wisconsin State Legislature 2015 Assembly Vote 154
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