Species Bill of 2005

[True Democrat]

   d. If any endangered or threatened species said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.

What does this mean?

And don't you think life in prison is a little much.  I mean, I'm all for protecting the environment, but sending people to prison forever is outrageous.

[True Democrat]

I would like to propose an amendment:

Section 2, Clauses D (and I assume the second one is E) is changed from:

I'd like to introduce these two amendments.

d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined 500,000 on the first offense, 1 million and 5 years in prison for the second offense and 2 million and 30 years in prison for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense life in prison shall be enforced.

d. Any private company or individual found in a court of law to have knowingly brought in an invasive species shall be fined 2 million dollars and serve 30 years in prison for the first offense. If a second offense occurs the offender fine shall double to 4 million and spend life in prison.

to:

d. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed in a court of law said offender shall be fined $1,000 on the first offense, $5,000 and 100 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife for the second offense and $15,000 and 500 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife for the third offense. If the offender commits a fourth offense a fine of $25,000 and 1000 hours of community service relating to conservation of wildlife.  For all offenses after the fourt offense, the fine shall increase by $10,000 and the community service by 500 hours for each offense.

e. If any endangered or threatened species is proved to have been knowingly killed by a private or public company in a court of law said company shall be fined 0.001% of the company's total revenue for the first offense for the most recent fiscal year. If a second offense occurs the company shall be fined 0.01% of the company's total revenue for the most recent fiscal year.  For each said offense after the second offense, the fine shall be multiplied by 10.

I'm not sure if the fines are too high in part E.  Just tell me if they are, and I can easily change them.

[True Democrat]

I'm not sure if the fines are too high in part E.  Just tell me if they are, and I can easily change them.

Hmm, there might be another problem. If the company has a negative income (i.e., loses money), then it would not be liable to fine at all.

Ooh, I hadn't thought of that.  But on the other hand, companies cannot have negative income.  They can have negative profit, but not negative income (maybe I should have used revenue).  I didn't want to use a fine like $500,000 because that could be really devastating for a small company and could be nothing for a large company.

[True Democrat]

Ooh, I hadn't thought of that.  But on the other hand, companies cannot have negative income.  They can have negative profit, but not negative income (maybe I should have used revenue).

Yes, I though that income would be the same as profit. But in any event, revenue is more clear. 

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That's true. Perhaps we can give the judge some discretion, as in "a fine of not more than $500,000." The judge could then assess the financial situation of the company and decide the specific amount.

I don't know.  The judge could be particularly harsh or soft on conservation.  I think the percentage of revenue works better.

[True Democrat]

As it stands right now, I am against the bill, which I feel has good intentions but has penalties that don't necessarily fit the crime.

I rewrote the penalties.  Check my amendment.

[True Democrat]

Aye, and sorry to break with my party.