Suzanne Crouch
Encyclopedia
Suzanne Crouch is a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 member of the Indiana House of Representatives
Indiana House of Representatives
The Indiana House of Representatives is the lower house of the Indiana General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Indiana. The House is composed of 100 members representing an equal number of constituent districts. House members serve two-year terms without term limits...

 representing the 78th district where she has served since 2005.

Early life

Crouch graduated from Mater Dei High School
Mater Dei High School (Evansville, Indiana)
Mater Dei High School or Evansville Mater Dei High School is a private Catholic high school on the west side of Evansville, Indiana. It is one of two Catholic high schools that serve the students of Vanderburgh, Posey, Gibson, and Warrick counties as part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of...

 in Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...

 and received her Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 degree from Purdue University
Purdue University
Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S., is the flagship university of the six-campus Purdue University system. Purdue was founded on May 6, 1869, as a land-grant university when the Indiana General Assembly, taking advantage of the Morrill Act, accepted a donation of land and...

, majoring in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...

. Prior to her service in local government, Suzanne served as Vanderburgh County
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 171,922 people, 70,623 households, and 44,421 families residing in the county. The population density was 733 people per square mile . There were 76,300 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile...

 Republican Central Committee Chairman for 4 years. Under her chairmanship, a majority of Republicans were elected to County Council, the first time in 60 years that Republicans controlled that body.

Auditor

Crouch was elected Vanderburgh County Auditor in 1994. During her two terms as Auditor, she established a reputation of fighting for government efficiency, responsiveness, accountability and accessibility. As Auditor, her office received, for the first time in decades, a clean bill of health every year from the State Board of Accounts.

Commissioner

In 2002, Suzanne was elected to the Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners and served as President until the end of her term in 2005. She worked to televise weekly Commission meetings and by holding public hearings to seek the public's input on important issues. While serving as president, the Commissioners, for the first time ever, applied and received federal transportation dollars for a local road project.

State Representative

In 2005 the district 78 seat for state representative was vacated by Vaneta Becker
Vaneta Becker
Vaneta Becker is a Republican Senator in the Indiana State Senate representing portions of Vanderburgh and Warrick County in the southern part of the state. She sits on the Health and Provider Services Committee; presently, she chairs its Public Health Subcommittee having moved on from the...

, who had moved to the State Senate to fill the vacated seat of Greg Server. House District 78 contains parts of Spencer
Spencer County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 20,391 people, 7,569 households, and 5,752 families residing in the county. The population density was 51 people per square mile . There were 8,333 housing units at an average density of 21 per square mile...

, Vanderburgh
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 171,922 people, 70,623 households, and 44,421 families residing in the county. The population density was 733 people per square mile . There were 76,300 housing units at an average density of 325 per square mile...

 and Warrick
Warrick County, Indiana
As of the census of 2000, there were 52,383 people, 19,438 households, and 15,181 families residing in the county. The population density was 136 people per square mile . There were 20,546 housing units at an average density of 54 per square mile...

 counties. Portions of Evansville
Evansville, Indiana
Evansville is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Indiana and the largest city in Southern Indiana. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 117,429. It is the county seat of Vanderburgh County and the regional hub for both Southwestern Indiana and the...

, as well as Newburgh
Newburgh, Indiana
Newburgh is a town in Ohio Township, Warrick County, Indiana, United States, along the Ohio River. The population was 3,325 at the 2010 census, which also recorded a population of 342,815 for the entire Evansville metropolitan area.-Geography:...

, Richland
Richland, Indiana
Richland is an unincorporated community in western Richland Township, Rush County, Indiana, United States. It lies along State Road 244 south of the city of Rushville, the county seat of Rush County. Its elevation is 1,027 feet , and it is located at ....

, Hatfield
Hatfield, Indiana
Hatfield is an unincorporated town in Luce Township, Spencer County, Indiana. Its population was 813 at the 2010 census....

, Darmstadt
Darmstadt, Indiana
Darmstadt is a small, German-heritage town in Scott Township, Vanderburgh County, Indiana, United States. It also extends slightly into Armstrong, Center and German townships. The population was 1,313 at the 2000 census...

 and McCutchanville are within the borders of the district. Crouch was elected to fill the position in a caucus by precinct committeemen
Precinct committeeman
A Precinct Committeemen, or PC, is the name for a office and the name of the official that organizes a voting precinct for a political party.There are state, ward and township party organizations, but the basic unit of U.S...

. She was appointed Vice Chairman of Public Health Committee in the state legislature. Crouch was challenged in the 2006 republican primary by conservative activist Jonathan Fulton but easily defeated him winning 63% of the vote.

Salvia divinorum

On January 13, 2008 it was reported that State Representative Suzanne Crouch was proposing a bill that wants Indiana law rewritten to declare the psychoactive herb Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum
Salvia divinorum is a psychoactive plant which can induce dissociative effects and is a potent producer of "visions" and other hallucinatory experiences...

a Schedule 1 controlled substance. Crouch's proposal would make the manufacture, sale or possession with intent to deliver salvia a Class B felony, carrying a potential penalty of six to 20 years. The offense would be a Class A felony if the delivery or sale of Salvia divinorum were to someone under age 18, on a school bus or within 1,000 feet of school property, a park, family housing complex or youth program center. A conviction for a Class A felony would carry a 20- to 50-year sentence. The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Crouch was reported as saying - "The fact it has that kind of (hallucinogenic) reaction and is not illegal certainly caused me to look at it seriously".

An editorial published by the Evansville Courier & Press on January 15, 2008 asked - " Are the proposed penalties of decades in prison appropriate? It's easy to demand Draconian sentences, until it's your teenager who gets caught". It suggested that there were other, more pressing, concerns for Indiana's lawmakers during the 2008 legislative session, saying - "Crouch's bill instead should be referred to a study committee for hearings this summer, with an eye to considering it in the 2009 session. It's not as if we have an epidemic of salvia divinorum abuse that requires immediate action."

An online poll was conducted in connection with Indianapolis news channel's stories earlier in November 2007, asking the question - "Do you believe Indiana should regulate Salvia divinorum?" A majority of 76% of the polls respondents were opposed to outright prohibition (59% preferring age regulations, and 17% no restrictions at all).

Opponents of extremely prohibitive Salvia restrictions argue that such reactions are largely due to an inherent prejudice and a particular cultural bias rather than any actual balance of evidence, pointing out inconsistencies in attitudes toward other more toxic and addictive drugs such as alcohol and nicotine.[i] While not objecting to some form of regulatory legal control, in particular with regard to the sale to minors or sale of enhanced high-strength extracts, most Salvia proponents otherwise argue against stricter legislation.[ii]

Alcohol

Alcohol related financial contributions featured highly for Representative Suzanne Crouch's 2006 political campaign. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, 'Beer, Wine & Liquor' was her eighth highest industry contributor.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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