The 36th Legislature wasted little time Friday before unanimously voting to override two of Gov. Albert Bryan Jr.’s recent vetoes. Afterward, lawmakers approved a score of bills, resolutions, and leases — including several aimed at enhancing or enforcing public safety in the territory.
The first of those to come to a vote was a measure establishing the Monday before the first Friday in June as “Virgin Islands Gun Violence Awareness Week.” The measure was introduced during a Senate Government Operations, Veterans Affairs and Consumer Protection Committee meeting earlier this week, days after three people were killed in a spate of weekend shootings. While agreeing with the spirit of the measure, lawmakers generally agreed that more needed to be done to curb crime.
“It’s one thing for us to pass laws and have weeks and days and months to acknowledge things, but I think it’s very important that we show criminals that we are actually solving them, in an attempt to deter crime, to help reduce gun violence in the territory,” Sen. Alma Francis Heyliger said.
Sen. Franklin Johnson said the flow of guns into the U.S. Virgin Islands will only get worse unless the territory can “control our shorelines.” At-Large Sen. Angel Bolques Jr. called the week of remembrance and education one part of a “comprehensive framework” for addressing gun violence. Senate Majority Leader Kurt Vialet said the issue is changing the “psyche” of individuals and making them realize that guns aren’t the answer.
“I just don’t know — but I know it starts young,” he said. “It starts with social workers, psychologists, and so forth in the school, and we need to move in that direction.”
Lawmakers later approved a measure declaring that people in police custody are legally incapable of consenting to sexual relations with law enforcement officers. Sen. Ray Fonseca, who sponsored the bill, successfully amended it by adding a requirement that the V.I. Attorney General develop and submit to the Legislature a “comprehensive sexual abuse policy for all law enforcement officers” consistent with federal standards and guidelines. That measure passed unanimously, as did another limiting the liability of emergency operators unless they act in a grossly negligent manner or with willful intent to do harm.
Friday also saw the Legislature pass “Jah’niqua’s Law,” which will require individuals convicted of negligent homicide or accidents while driving under the influence to pay restitution if their actions permanently disable or kill the parent of a minor. The measure was named for Jah’niqua Williams, who was 27 years old when she was killed in a car crash two years ago.
Police arrested and charged another driver with negligent homicide, reckless endangerment and involuntary manslaughter, but the charges were dismissed without prejudice earlier this year.
Lawmakers also passed an act requiring the automatic expungement of arrest records and complaints for people who have been accused of a crime and acquitted.
Other notable approved measures included one meant to streamline the Government Employees’ Retirement System’s disability annuity approval process by allowing applicants to bypass GERS’s medical review committee with a note from a certified medical professional, a measure increasing penalties for violations of sanitation laws, and a measure to facilitate the establishment of savings accounts for people with disabilities. Acts amending the regulation of social work and social workers in the territory and establishing the V.I. Board of Social Work Licensure were also approved.
Lease agreements for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to use a portion of the telecommunications tower in Red Hook and for a helipad on St. John were approved, as were resolutions honoring funeral services director James Sasso and Sonya Hough, creator of the iconic Crucian “hook” bracelet.
The final approved measure came in the form of an update to the territory’s Education Initiative Fund.
St. Croix Source
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