Penalty Enhancements for Assaults on Retail Workers
•May 27, 2020•
By Jerry Nowicki
Capitol News Illinois
jnowicki @ capitolnewsillinois.com
Measures addressing aggravated battery of retail workers, disability leave for public employees and unionization of employees in the horse racing industry found their way into a COVID-19-response bill this week at the Capitol.
The aggravated battery language in Senate Bill 471 was a subject of heated debate in the House on Friday, which often turned into a philosophical discussion as to whether “penalty enhancements” were worthy public policy.
Rep. Jay Hoffman, D-Swansea, who sponsored the bill, claimed that “penalty enhancement” was not the correct characterization of the measure, because “the individual action that would be a crime doesn’t exist. You can’t enhance something that didn’t exist previously.”
Strictly speaking, the bill amends the “aggravated battery” section of law by adding the crime of assaulting or battering a retail worker who is fulfilling duties such as relaying health care or safety regulations from an employer or public health agencies.
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