80th Legislature: Thank You For (Not?) Smoking

“Pre-Filing” is, for me, kind of like Christmas. When you start looking at the legislation, you never know what you are going to get. It’s like wondering what is wrapped up under the Christmas tree.

To give you an idea of how far on opposite ends of the spectrum some legislation is, here are two examples that deal with cigarette smoking.

Terri Hodge (D-Dallas), one of the strongest advocates for the civil liberties of incarcarated individuals in Texas, has introduced several bills relating to the prison system. One of her pieces of legislation, House Bill 45, would allow employees, visitors and inmates in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to use tobacco products. It would require the TDCJ executive director to designate smoking areas so that secondhand smoke would not be an issue.

A lot of folks will oppose this because they’ll complain that the state will end up paying for healthcare for the inmates when/if they get cancer (although we must realize that not everyone in prison is there for life). However, one must consider that a prisoner who can smoke is probably also a more happy prisoner, and won’t be filing writs right and left, won’t be starting fights and, who knows, maybe even won’t get involved in a prison gang.

Then, you have Leo Berman’s House Bill 32, which would make it a Class A Misdemeanor to throw a lit cigarette, match, or cigar from the window of a moving car.

I can clearly see the reasoning behind this, but I think making it a Class A misdemeanor may be a bit harsh. Now, if it starts a 5,000 acre forest fire, heck–make it a state jail felony. I have also never seen a match that would stay lit in the face of 50 mile-per-hour winds, so I’ve never known that you could throw a lit match out of a car window while the car is moving. The laws of physics seem to indicate that the thing would blow out when it hits the wind, but maybe I’m wrong.

Anyway, it’s quite the study in contrasts.