2014 Governor's State of the State speeches: on Crime


Bobby Jindal: Crack down on the horrific crime of human sex trafficking

We're committed to working with legislators to continue to crack down on the horrific crime of human trafficking. Each year, hundreds of thousands of women and children around the world become victims of a global sex trade. Victims are forced to sell these services by means of physical abuse, threats, lies, manipulation, and false promises for things like education or a place to stay.

This isn't a crime that is just happening in some faraway place. As we've seen from investigations by Louisiana State Police recently, it's happening here in Baton Rouge and across our state.

That's why we'll propose a legislative package to prosecute criminals to the fullest extent of the law, and protect the vulnerable and often forgotten victims of these terrible crimes.

Source: 2014 State of the State address to the Louisiana legislature Mar 10, 2014

Mary Fallin: Be as "smart on crime" as we are "tough on crime"

For non-violent offenders in our prison population, we are working hard to offer treatment and rehabilitation--to be as "smart on crime" as we are "tough on crime." I'm looking forward to a renewed partnership between the Department of Corrections, the Legislature and my office, as we work with the agency and its new director to evaluate and improve our smart on crime initiatives, including the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.
Source: 2014 State of the State address to Oklahoma legislature Feb 3, 2014

Martin O`Malley: Repealed death penalty; reduced prison incarceration

Today, with courageous law enforcement officers, we have now reduced violent crime to 30 year lows. With our first responders, shock trauma doctors and nurses, traffic deaths have been reduced now to the lowest levels in decades.

We enacted common sense measures to reduce gun violence. We repealed the death penalty and replaced it with life without the possibility of parole. And there are now fewer people incarcerated in Maryland's prisons today than at any time since 1994.

Source: 2014 State of the State Address to Maryland legislature Jan 23, 2014

Jerry Brown: Major reductions in our prison population

In the field of public safety, we have changed historic practices in our prison system and transferred significant responsibilities to local authorities. The Federal courts, backed up by the United States Supreme Court, have ordered major reductions in our prison population and dramatic improvements in the medical and mental health programs that the state makes available. In response, we have transferred the supervision of tens of thousands of lower level offenders from the state to our 58 counties. This realignment is bold and far reaching, but necessary under the circumstances. And local law enforcement has risen to the occasion.

Our prisons are pioneering new programs and treatments--and so are the counties. Last week, I visited the Lerdo Jail just north of Bakersfield and sat in on some classes. It was moving to hear the men's stories and the struggles they encounter.

Source: 2014 State of the State Address to California legislature Jan 22, 2014

Dave Heineman: Don't reduce sentences automatically for "good time"

An important issue that needs to be addressed is Nebraska's approach to crime and punishment. There are short term and long term components to this issue. Allowing the most violent criminals to enter into our state's prison system and have their judge-imposed sentences automatically reduced by 1/2 through the use of the current "good time" program is not sound public policy. As you know, the current law allows violent criminals to automatically receive "good time" the moment they enter a Nebraska correctional facility. The public safety of our citizens should be priority #1 and that should start with violent criminals being required to earn "good time." I have done all that I can administratively by approving a change to our rules and regulations that allows the Department of Correctional Services to take away twice as much "good time" when a prisoner assaults a corrections official or another inmate.
Source: 2014 State of the State Address to Nebraska legislature Jan 15, 2014

Chris Christie: Bail reform: Keep dangerous criminals in jail until trial

We must do everything we can to swiftly jail those violent criminals who bring additional murder and disruption to innocent victims. Almost two years ago, I announced a proposed constitutional amendment to modify the right to bail in NJ. The concept is simple: NJ courts should have the right to keep dangerous criminals off the streets and in jail until trial.

Why is this important? A study by the federal government's Justice Department found that 1/3 of defendants released before trial ended up being charged with some type of pre-trial misconduct. 1/6 were arrested for a new offense--and half of those were felonies.

The federal government allows a violent criminal who is a danger to the community to be held without bail. NJ law does not. This must change. How can we justify exposing our citizens to the risk of violent crime at the hands of those, already in custody, who we know are disposed to commit it? There is no justification for that. Let us mirror federal law. Pass bail reform now.

Source: 2014 State of the State address to N.J. Legislature Jan 14, 2014

John Hickenlooper: $34 million for violence-preventing mental health services

Part of what has gotten overlooked in the debate about guns is our work on mental health. When you look at the massacres at Columbine High School and the Aurora movie theater; and the tragedies of Platte Canyon High School, and most recently at Arapahoe High School, guns are only a piece of the puzzle. Another clear piece is mental health: Trying to identify and assist those who are feeling isolated, bullied, the mentally ill; and trite as this may sound, those who are feeling abandoned and unloved.

We allocated more than $34 million to create and bolster programs such as school-based mental health services, behavioral health community centers, and to train and staff round-the-clock mental health crisis centers.

Source: 2014 State of the State address to Colorado Legislature Jan 9, 2014

  • The above quotations are from 2014 Governor's State of the State speeches.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Crime.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Earl Ray Tomblin on Crime.
  • Click here for more quotes by Andrew Cuomo on Crime.
Candidates and political leaders on Crime:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R)
Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)
Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018