Earlier this week I introduced legislation that would give federal judges discretion to double prison sentences for elected and appointed public officials convicted of bribery, fraud, extortion, or theft in the course of their official duties. The Pubic Official Accountability Act, HR 2402, would allow judges to increase the sentences by up to two years for relevant crimes that violate the public trust.

With public faith in government officials weakened by scandals from the Jack Abramhoff affair to the Randy “Duke� Cunningham (R-Calif.) conviction, we need to ensure that those who break these laws are punished appropriately.  Beyond breaking the law, the perpetrators of these crimes violate the public trust by defying their fiduciary responsibility to the Constitution, which causes significant harm to our democracy.  I believe judges are the proper authority to have the discretion to increase criminal sentences in cases where public confidence in government has been violated.  I hope that this bill will act as a deterrent to illegal behavior in the future and help rebuild public trust in government officials.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 24th, 2007 at 1:26 pm and is filed under Politics, Lawmaker News .