Proposed Kate’s Law Would Not Have Saved Kate Steinle
Matt Gonzalez, an attorney representing Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez, the defendant in the San Francisco case involving the killing of Kate Steinle. Gonzalez argues that “Kate’s Law” passed by the U.S. House of Representatives would not have saved Kate’s life:
“The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill last week called “Kate’s Law” (HR3004). The bill is named for Kate Steinle, the young woman whose unfortunate death in San Francisco in 2015 has been exploited as a recurrent shibboleth in efforts across the nation to instigate anti-immigrant fervor.
Were it in effect in 2015 however, nothing in this proposed law — which increases maximum sentences for immigrants who re-enter the country illegally after a deportation — would have prevented Steinle’s death. Her death was the result of systemic defects and individual errors that the bill does not address. What the law will do is fill our already overcrowded prisons with nonviolent immigrants.
The bill would do two things:
- Increase the maximum sentence for previously deported people who re-enter the U.S. from two years to 10, and increase the maximum sentences for people who re-enter after being convicted of certain criminal offenses — including for immigration offenses — to up to 25 years.”
KJ