Habitual Offender Statutes: A Need for Change
Abstract
Many states have habitual offender statutes, which label those who violate the statutes as either habitual felony offenders or persistent felony offenders (hereinafter referred to as HFO). While these statutes differ state-by-state, they all serve as a deterrent to those who may recommit felonies. In addition to longer sentences, many of those convicted under a HFO statute are also restricted in their eligibility for the different types of probation.
While it may seem fair to punish those who are reoffenders harsher than first time-offenders, HFO statutes have a detrimental effect to our society. First, these kinds of statutes can be used by prosecutors in a way that interferes with traditional notions of fairness. Second, the punishment for those who have committed the lowest level of felonies, such as drug possession or petty theft can be sentenced similarly to felons convicted of violent crimes. Finally, the public suffers financially from how they are currently used. The solution to these issues requires two changes. First, to ensure fairness is preserved, the procedures that apply to HFO statutes should be similar to the procedures for capital punishment defendants. Second, HFO statutes should be revised to exclude low-level felonies.
This Article can be broken down into five parts. Part I introduces the reader to the article and provides a broad view of the arguments to be made. Part II contains four subparts that discuss arbitrary use of persistent felony offender statutes. Part III involves amending HFO statutes. Part IV provides a short section of some of the changes being made or attempting to be made to remedy the problems with HFO statutes. Part V concludes the article by recognizing and refuting a potential counterargument and summarizing the content of this article.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-1-2024
Notes/Citation Information
Jacob Bush, Habitual Offender Statutes: A Need for Change, Ky. L. J. Online (November 1, 2024), https://perma.cc/472U-EUDG.