New Terror Laws Heard in Senate Judiciary Committee

Intro:	Terrorist murder would be a death-penalty offense under a measure presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday.
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Wrap: Any murder committed as an act of terrorism would be punishable by death in the state of Missouri under a Columbia senator's bill.

Republican Kurt Schaefer stated the ways a murder charge could be considered terrorism in the bill's hearing.

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Description: It is an act of terrorism, in that it was committed for the purpose of, or in a manner of intimidating or coercing a civilian population, influencing the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion, or affecting the conduct of a government.

An ACLU lawyer, Sarah Rossi, argued that the legislation does not include the complete federal definition of terrorism.

The bill is one of three on terrorism that the attorney general candidate has sponsored.

From the state Capitol, I'm Jack Morrisroe.

Intro:	Prison volunteers would have their social media accounts checked for terrorist connections under a judiciary bill.
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Wrap: Volunteers at Missouri prisons and jails would undergo a background check to look for terrorist tendancies, under a bill by Senator Kurt Schaefer.

The republican from Columbia said the bill would allow background checks of social media accounts as well as state and federal files.

Schaefer said the bill is necessary to prevent prisoners from being radicalized. An ACLU lawyer, Sarah Rossi, said the bill is an invasion of privacy.

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Description: It also raises a lot of first amendment issues for the ACLU because asking people for their social media account information can have a chilling effect of speech.

The bill is only one of three terrorism bills sponsored by the attorney general candidate.

From the state Capitol, I'm Jack Morrisroe.

Intro:	Terrorism would be made illegal under a bill sponsored by an attorney general candidate.
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Wrap: An act of terrorism that causes serious physical injury would be a state offense as stated in a bill by Columbia Senator Kurt Schaefer.

The bill, heard in the Senate judiciary committee, states that an act that intimidates citizens would be a felony.

Sarah Rossi, a lawyer for the ACLU, said the bill might unfairly charge protestors with terrorism.

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Description: "Your behavior can be intended to affect the conduct of government without being terrorism. If there is an altercation that happens during a protest that causes serious physical injury, I'm not sure that should be considered terrorism."

The bill is one of three terrorism bills sponsored by the Republican attorney general candidate.

From the state Capitol, I'm Jack Morrisroe.