Come Sunday Porch Pirates Will Face Felony Charges

Sunday, September 1st marks the beginning of several new laws in Texas. You'll be allowed to wear and use brass knuckles for self-defense, the minimum smoking age will rise to 21 and stealing a package from someone's front porch has a much higher penalty than before.

Texas House Bill 37 makes stealing mail (packages, letters, postcards) a felony.  If convicted one could serve anywhere from six months to ten years, with a fine of $4,000 to $10,000 on top of that. If the victim is a senior citizen the charge could be even larger. Before the crime was simply a misdemeanor and you were served a ticket.

With the high penalty and the rise in doorbell cameras hopefully, the crime rate will drop. Imagine spending half a year behind bars for swiping a postcard. "What are you in for?" "ummm, uhhhh.... I.. I.. I.. don't want to talk about it."