Michigan lawmakers are considering two bills that would raise fines if a person pleads guilty to or is convicted of assaulting a healthcare worker.
House Bill 4520 would create enhanced criminal fines for simple assault and aggravated assault, and House Bill 4521 would create an enhanced criminal fine for assault with a deadly weapon if the victim is a healthcare professional or medical volunteer who was on the job at the time the act occurred, according to a legislative analysis by the House Fiscal Agency.
The first bill would raise the penalty for "a person who assaults or assaults and batters an individual." If the victim is a healthcare professional or medical volunteer performing their duties, the penalty would increase from up to 93 days in prison or a fine of up to $500, or both, to up to 93 days in prison or a fine of up to $1,000, or both.
The bill would also increase the penalty for "a person who assaults an individual without a weapon and inflicts serious or aggravated injury on that individual without intending to commit murder or inflict great bodily harm less than murder." If the victim is a healthcare professional or medical volunteer performing their duties, the penalty would increase from up to one year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000, or both, to up to one year in prison or a fine of up to $2,000, or both.
The second bill addresses "a person who assaults an individual with a gun, knife, iron bar, club, brass knuckles or other dangerous weapon without intending to commit murder or inflict great bodily harm less than murder." If the victim is a healthcare professional or medical volunteer performing their duties, the penalty would increase from up to four years or a fine of up to $2,000, or both, to up to four years or a fine of up to $4,000, or both.
The enhanced fines in the bills would not apply if the defendant is a patient receiving treatment from the victim, although such a person "could still be subject to prosecution" under Michigan's simple assault provisions, the legislative analysis says.
Other states, such as Kansas and Florida, have already enhanced criminal penalties related to violence against healthcare workers.
Each Michigan bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.