Griesmyer talks ACLU legislative wins, losses

The ACLU Idaho Legislative Tour stopped in Coeur d’Alene Tuesday to review how the organization shaped policy during the 2018 session at the Statehouse.

Kathy Griesmyer, policy director for ACLU Idaho, highlighted several of the group’s legislative victories, including the defeat of HB 419, a bill introduced by Rep. Eric Redman (R-Athol).

The bill aimed to prevent Idaho courts from considering rulings from foreign countries that don’t provide their citizens with the same liberties as the U.S. and Idaho constitutions.

However, Griesmyer said the bill’s focus was simply to prevent the adoption of Sharia law and stir anti-Muslim sentiment.

“Sharia law is not a problem in Idaho or anywhere in the U.S., so this is really a nonexistent issue,” Griesmyer said.

The bill passed the House before dying in the Senate.

Griesmyer celebrated the passage of HB 599, which added protections for Idahoans charged with a misdemeanor for driving without privileges.

In the past, citizens caught driving without privileges because their licenses had been suspended for failure to pay fines or fees were subject to up to two days in jail.

Under the new law, driving without privileges when a license is suspended simply due to failure to pay a fine is reduced to an infraction and mandatory minimum sentencing is removed.

This eliminates a strain on jails, prisons and public defenders, and ensures that low-income citizens are not punished for their economic status, Griesmyer said.

“With our jails and prisons already overcrowded, does it make sense to incarcerate people who can’t pay fines?” Griesmyer asked.

Additionally, she touted the defeat of Marsy’s Law, legislation aimed at strengthening victims’ rights in the courtroom.

The ACLU was concerned the bill, if passed, could, at times, tip the scales of justice unfairly toward victims or the accused. It would also place undue financial stress on the criminal justice system, Griesmyer said, because it would require all victims to be afforded legal representation.

“The state is not providing adequate public defense, so this would create an additional financial struggle,” Griesmyer said. “As we know, wealth plays a huge part in access to an attorney.”

Griesmyer also touched on a couple bills that passed despite opposition from ACLU Idaho.

She decried the passage of SB 1243, which mandates that physicians provide women who are seeking an abortion with information about how the process could be reversed halfway through.

According to Griesmyer, the science behind the measure is inconclusive at best and inaccurate at worst. She said the study in question was not peer-reviewed and had no ethics committee.

“There is no scientific basis for providing this information to women,” she said.

She also referenced HB 620, which bars public officials and entities from using public resources to advocate for candidates and ballot measures.

While she acknowledged the bill was created with the good intention of rooting out corruption, Griesmyer said it could have unintended consequences.

“It empowers the government to silence speech it does not like,” she said. “As a result, folks are going to self-censor.”

Griesmyer used the example of high school Young Republicans not being able to use their school library as a meeting space because the group has political motives.

“What you’re really doing is stopping young people from having political conversations,” she said.

Finally, Griesmyer encouraged all Idahoans to be involved in the 2018 election cycle.

She offered a reminder that people who have completely served their felony sentences automatically have their right to vote restored, and that citizens convicted of misdemeanors never lose that right.

“You still have a voice,” Griesmyer said. “We want to make sure you know how to use it.”