Overhaul of 185-year-old criminal code stirs outrage
An overhaul of Haiti’s archaic 185-year-old criminal laws provides stiffer penalties for rape, decriminalizes begging and, for the first time, addresses modern-era crimes like cyber security and terrorism financing while giving a clearer definition of what constitutes sexual harassment.
But some of the language of the new penal code is stirring controversy. It allows for the legalization of abortion and for the scrubbing of felons' criminal records. It outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation. It also attempts to clarify laws condemning incest and bestiality while providing harsher penalites for rape based on a minor’s age.
Outraged, Haitians have taken to the streets in protest and support of a Change.org petition demanding protection of the country’s morality, and a retreat by the government.
The laws, published by President Jovenel Moïse by executive order in late June, have been met with so much cultural, religious and societal resistance that more than 135,000 Haitians have signed the online petition describing the series of changes as “attacks by the government on the morality of Haitian society, on its customs and culture, while ignoring the real needs of the population.” In Creole and English, visitors are asked to reject “the legalization of child prostitution, incest, bestiality and homosexuality in Haiti.”
“The new laws are not necessarily in line with general Haitian values and customs,” said Pastor Gregory Toussaint, the founder of Tabernacle of Glory Church in North Miami and several Protestant churches in Haiti.
Toussaint, a rising firebrand preacher whose megachurch broadcasts services to Haitians in several languages, launched the Change.org petition last month in conjunction with the Protestant Federation of Haiti so that government officials, he said, can have “a sense of what the people are thinking and how many people are pretty much unhappy with the
Haiti is seeing a backlash over changes in the antiquated penal code laws. President Jovenel Moïse issued an executive order for the changes — which include legalizing abortion and outlawing discrimination based on sexual orientation — in June, and they would go into effect in 2022. The Protestant Federation of Haiti is among the most vocal critics of the updated code.
demic started in March, they have ceded their budgetmaking authority. They have refused to call a special session despite plummeting state revenue, and DeSantis has filled the void, making broad spending decisions derived from his emergency powers.
A spokesman for DeSantis did not say whether the governor would agree to the deal, but DeSantis’ public schedule was updated to show a late afternoon meeting with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, an indication that he was exploring the arrangement.
Trump’s order would extend the federal benefits that expired last month, but at $400 per week instead of $600. The $400 would be on top of Florida’s maximum weekly benefit of $275 per week, one of the worst in the nation, bringing the maximum weekly amount to $675 per week.
Even more critically, gig workers and independent contractors would be eligible for the weekly $400. Those people aren’t eligible for Florida’s state benefits, although many are getting $125 per week through a different federal program. (After taxes, the amount is just $113 for some.)
Trump’s plan has caveats that have given other governors pause.
Unlike the $600, which came with no strings attached, states would be on the hook for $100 of each $400 payment. The states could pay it with CARES Act dollars Congress has already allocated them — money that’s supposed to be spent on pandemic costs. (Of the $5.8 billion the state was given, officials have spent less than 10% as of July 23, according to the Treasury
Department.)
The remaining $300 has its own catch. It’s coming from a Department of Homeland Security Disaster Relief Fund meant to cover the costs of hurricanes and other disasters.
And then there’s another catch: The $44 billion in disaster relief would run out in a matter of weeks, according to some estimates.
On Monday, no governor had apparently agreed to the plan, with Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, calling it “political games” and Republicans balking at the cost.
“This scheme should give Floridians, who are in the middle of hurricane season, pause,” wrote Cindy Huddleston, a senior policy analyst at Florida Policy Institute, a left-leaning think tank, in an email.
But the situation for hundreds of thousands of Floridians is so financially dire that DeSantis should go ahead and approve it, lawmakers said.
“I don’t think Florida has a choice but to agree,” said state Rep. Anna Eskamani, D-Orlando. “We desperately need it.”
The two incoming leaders of the Florida Legislature, both Republicans, also said the state should join.
“I don’t know why Florida would not participate in this program,” said Sen. Wilton Simpson, R-Trilby, who is set to become Senate president in November.
The future House speaker, Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, also supports it.
“However, we still need additional details and guidance from the federal government before we can identify the best funding mechanism,” Sprowls wrote in a text message.
Mnuchin said Monday that the $300 federal unemployment benefit would kick in “within the next week or two” for most of the states that accept.
The situation for hundreds of thousands of Floridians became even more desperate last month when the $600 benefits ran out. Nearly 800,000 Floridians filed or received benefits during the most recent period. Nearly 600,000 are behind on their power bills, and many are hanging on to their homes only because of DeSantis’ executive order temporarily halting evictions.
Trump also issued an executive order on Saturday related to the evictions and foreclosures, in which he bashes Congress for sitting “idly” by while vulnerable Americans are at risk. The CARES Act contained a moratorium that prevented tenants from being evicted from properties that have accepted federal subsidies or have federally backed mortgages, but that expired in late July.
Trump’s order, however, doesn’t reinstate that freeze on its own. It simply states that federal officials “shall consider” whether an additional halt to evictions is “reasonably necessary to prevent the further spread of COVID-19” from one state to another. It also says that officials “shall identify any and all available federal funds” which could be used for assistance for struggling renters and homeowners, but it doesn’t guarantee money will be disbursed.
While Florida’s maximum benefit is $275 per week, the average payment has been just $230, or $920 per month — more than $200 less than the average rent for a twobedroom apartment in the state.
Eskamani said that if DeSantis doesn’t agree to Trump’s order, he should use his executive powers to increase the state’s weekly benefit amounts, something he’s resisted.
“I think that’s the most shameful part of this,” Eskamani said. “You’re OK with the president and his overreach for creating this program, but you have totally resisted calls to do something that’s within your purview.”