Change penalties for motor vehicle homicide of an unborn child

Brief

What this bill does

If it passes, what actually changes?

This is a short criminal-penalty bill. It re-grades the felony level for causing an unborn child's death while driving under the influence.

• Amends section 28-394 of the Homicide of the Unborn Child Act and repeals the original section.
• DUI-caused deaths under section 60-6,196 or 60-6,197.06 shift between Class IIIA and Class IIA felony.
• Where the driver has a prior DUI conviction, the offense shifts between Class IIA and Class II felony.
• Leaves the base offense a Class I misdemeanor and reckless-driving cases (60-6,213, 60-6,214) a Class IIIA felony.
• Keeps the court-ordered driving ban and license revocation of at least 60 days, up to 15 years.
• Keeps the rule that revocation does not run concurrently with any jail term imposed.

What it says it is for

Does it do what it claims?

The title matches the bill. Changing penalties is the only thing the operative text actually does.

• The title names motor vehicle homicide of an unborn child; section 28-394 defines exactly that offense.
• The only substantive edits are the felony class labels in subdivisions (3)(b) and (3)(c).
• No new crime, agency, program, appropriation, or reporting duty appears in either section.
• The title says "change" penalties, not raise them, and does not say which direction.
• Subsection (4), treating this as an offense separate from others in the same crash, is reprinted unchanged.
• Subsection (1)'s definition of the offense and subsection (3)(a) are left exactly as they were.

Where Scripture bears on it

What does the Bible say about this?

The question this bill raises is not whether killing is wrong but how heavily the state should weigh one unintentional killing against another, and Scripture speaks to the grading of punishment without fixing the grades. Job 31:11 — "For this is an heinous crime; yea, it is an iniquity to be punished by the judges." — assumes both that some wrongs must be punished and that judges are the ones who measure the punishment, which is precisely the work subsections (3)(b) and (3)(c) are doing. 1 Timothy 1:9 — "Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers," — locates the proper object of penal law in those who take life, and the word "manslayers" reaches a killing that was never planned. Neither verse settles what this bill actually decides. They do not say whether a driver who kills without intending to belongs in the same grade as one who kills deliberately, they draw no line between a first offense and a repeat one, they say nothing about a license revocation of sixty days or of fifteen years, and they cannot tell a reader which direction LB124 moves the penalty — the very thing the text leaves open.

The case each way

What is the strongest argument for, and against?

The disagreement is over how severely the law should punish a drunk driver whose crash causes the death of an unborn child.

• For: A death caused by drunk driving is the most serious outcome and should carry the highest class.
• For: The stiffer grade falls hardest on drivers who already have a prior DUI conviction.
• For: Nebraska already treats this as a distinct offense, so a low felony grade sits oddly beside that choice.
• Against: Raising felony classes means longer prison terms and costs the bill never estimates anywhere.
• Against: Subsection (4) already lets prosecutors stack charges from a single crash, compounding exposure.
• Against: The bill adds punishment but nothing on prevention, treatment, or enforcing existing revocations.

What is unsettled

What should I be careful about?

This reading covers only the two printed sections; much of the bill's real effect sits in law it cites but never quotes.

• The text never states the prison terms or fines attached to Class II, IIA, or IIIA felonies.
• Sections 60-6,196, 60-6,197.06, 60-6,213, and 60-6,214 are cited but never described.
• No fiscal note, appropriation, or prison-population estimate appears anywhere in the bill.
• This copy prints both the old and new class labels without the strike-through and underline marks.
• No effective date or application clause; the text does not say whether pending cases are covered.
• "Unborn child" and "proximate cause" are not defined here; those definitions live elsewhere.

Text (1)

• Introduced (application/pdf)

Each link opens the Legislature's own document. The text itself is not in our database yet (fetched lazily); when it lands these pages will carry it verbatim.

All Actions (10)

Votes (0)

There have been no roll call votes on this bill.

Sponsors (1)

• Sen. Rick Holdcroft [District 36] — primary sponsor

Amendments (0)

There are no amendments to this bill.

Fiscal Notes & Statements (3)

• Committee Statement — Committee Statement
• Fiscal Note — Fiscal Note
• Statement of Intent — Statement of Intent

The Legislature's own companion documents; each link opens the official copy.

Committees (1)

Related Bills (0)

No related bill information was received for LB124.