Jackson Free Press

[verbatim] Three bills proposed to the legislature this season by the Mississippi Attorney General's Office are now on their way to the Governor, announced Attorney General Jim Hood.

HB893 ... requires those convicted of capital murder, where the underlying criminal offense is a registerable sexual offense, to register as a sexual offender. This bill would be effective immediately and would apply to the parole board's controversial release of convicted murderer Douglas Hodgkin.

"This bill contains retro-active language that would require Mr. Hodgkin and others like him to, at a minimum, register as a sex offender upon release," said Attorney General Jim Hood.

HB 1362 ... expands the Attorney General's administrative subpoena power to include computer crimes.

"Right now we have to send an officer to the applicable county and spend time and manpower to get subpoenas," said Attorney General Jim Hood. "This can be time consuming and cumbersome and we could make better use of our taxpayer's money by simplifying the process."

HB 1357 ... broadens the definition of "identity theft victims" to include businesses and other entities.

"Many times the victims in identity theft cases are businesses," said Attorney General Jim Hood. "Criminals will create a fake check using a business' legitimate information and draw on their banks and their credit. It can have a devastating impact, particularly on small businesses. Right now, we can charge the cons in these type cases for embezzlement or something similar. This legislation helps us to also be able to go after them for identity theft, like we can when it involves an individual."

Also, going to the Governor is HB874 ... known as the Anti-Piracy Legislation. Attorney General Jim Hood worked closely with the Chamber of Commerce and the business community to help clarify the law and revise penalties for piracy.

"We have found many instances where people will make a bootleg copy of popular music and sell it as the original," said Attorney General Hood. "In those instances, we could only charge under this statute when the recordings were made prior to 1972. This bill changes that and now gives us a means to properly prosecute for the theft of intellectual property. This bill will also allow us to prosecute individuals who make counterfeit goods such as medicine, contact lenses and brake pads, items that could potentially harm someone who uses them. "

Attorney General Jim Hood urges the public to voice support of these bills to the Governor immediately. You can contact the Governor at 1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150.

Previous Comments

ID

144651

Comment

LEAVE the bootleg DVD people alone. They provide a vital service in these hard economic times. I am callilng to voice my objection to this bill.

Author

dd39203

Date

2009-03-12T15:39:46-06:00