From [HERE] A bill introduced in response to the fatal shooting of five policemen in Dallas would impose strict mandatory minimum sentences for attacks on law enforcement, reports U.S. News and World Report. The Back the Blue Act, introduced by Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, includes a 30-year minimum sentence for killing a federal judge, federal law enforcement officer or a “federally funded public safety officer.” The legislation would also federalize and establish mandatory minimums for the much more common offense of assaulting an officer.
“You could see why a senator from Texas would feel inspired to do something, but it’s very clear now mandatory minimums are not the way to go,” says Ashley Nellis, a senior research analyst at The Sentencing Project.
“These assault pieces are very vague and could potentially bring in thousands of more people who are in an altercation with a police officer and give them a little scratch on their arm,” she says. “We want everyone to go peacefully under arrest, but we know that doesn’t happen. It’s naturally a complicated situation.”
From [HERE] Additionally Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday that he plans to propose a law providing for additional punishment for crimes against law enforcement officers. The proposed Police Protection Act (PPA) would extend hate crime protections to law enforcement officers, organize a "campaign to educate young Texans on the value law enforcement officers bring to their communities" and "increase criminal penalties for any crime in which the victim is a law enforcement officer" even if the crime would not otherwise qualify as a hate crime. Abbott used assault with bodily injury as an example of a crime subject to the proposed enhancements, from the current third degree felony to a second degree felony under the proposal.