After a Vermont Supreme Court ruling last week said Jack Sawyer could not be held without bail because his actions did not constitute "an attempt" to commit a crime, the Senate Judiciary Committee is exploring the state's domestic terrorism law as a way to charge similar crimes in the future.
Sawyer was arrested after police found a detailed plot to kill students at the high school in his diary.
Judiciary chairman Dick Sears says his committee is focused on a clear goal.
"What is the best way to try to make sure that in the future anybody that exhibits this form of behavior is going to be held accountable." — Sen. Dick Sears
"What is the best way to try to make sure that in the future anybody that exhibits this form of behavior is going to be held accountable,” said Sears.
Sears says a discussion over what constitutes "an attempt" to commit a crime would be a long and complicated legal debate and one that he hesitates to initiate in the final weeks of the session.
That's why he wants to review the state's domestic terrorism laws to see if they could be amended to deal with these kinds of cases.
"You have to be extremely careful when you're writing criminal law and taking away people's liberties,” said Sears. “So it will be focused on those who actually put fear into the hearts of Vermonters through their actions and not just writing something in a journal."
We'd at least like to see something that ensures that it's not just mere preparation, that it's not just caught up in this." — Vermont ACLU Policy Director Chloe White
The Vermont ACLU's Chloe White wants to make certain the committee doesn't back a plan that includes a broad definition of what it means to "attempt" to commit a crime.
"We'd at least like to see something that ensures that it's not just mere preparation, that it's not just caught up in this,” said White.
And White questions why the penalty for "attempting" to commit a crime is the same as actually committing it. Her example is a person who is caught plotting to kill their spouse.
"Should that person get the same sentence as someone who actually murdered their husband? And this proposal doesn't propose to change that and that's very concerning,” said White.
The Senate Judiciary Committee hopes to have a final draft of its bill ready by the end of the week.
