FLORIDA LEGISLATURE - 2019 - CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

SINE DIE ......

And with that, the Florida Legislature wraps up another session in Tallahassee. According to the Tampa Bay Times, the Legislature passed a 296-page criminal justice reform package bill last Friday, the last full day of the session.

There were many legislators that were less than satisfied with the final product. In last minute behind the doors meetings, several big-ticket reform pieces were taken out of the bill at the behest of the House.

Some of the highlights of changes in the law that are contained in House Bill 7125 include:

+ Making it easier for felons to get professional licenses

+ Allowing state attorneys to decide whether juvenile cases should be transferred to adult court. (Currently, that happens automatically if the crime is severe or the child has certain priors convictions).

+ Raising the "threshold" dollar amount at which theft charges go from a misdemeanor to a felony, from $300 to $750.

+ Eliminating or reducing driver’s license suspensions as a criminal penalty.

+ Creates a task force to reevaluate Florida’s entire criminal punishment code, and whether the set punishments fit the crime.

What didn’t make the cut in the final bill:

• Allowing judges discretion over sentences for certain drug crimes that currently have required amounts of time that defendants must serve, called "mandatory minimum" sentences.

• Permitting prison inmates convicted of nonviolent felonies to be released after serving a minimum 65 percent of their sentence if they have good behavior and participate in educational and rehabilitative programs (current law is 85 percent).

• Retroactive re-sentencing for people who were convicted of aggravated assault back when the state’s punishment for that crime was harsher than it is now.

Interesting side note: "As part of the analysis conducted to evaluate the impact of the original bill, state analysts crunched the numbers as to what would happen if inmates were allowed to be released earlier. The answer was eye-popping: By 2024, $860 million would be saved and about 9,000 additional prisoners would be released."

HERE IS A HIGHLIGHT OF JUST SOME OF THE CHANGES:

322.055, F.S.; reducing the length of driver license revocation for possession or sale of, trafficking in, or conspiracy to possess, sell, or traffic in a controlled substance; deleting provisions authorizing a driver to petition the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for restoration of his or her driving privilege;

322.056, F.S.; reducing the period for revocation or suspension of, or delay of eligibility for, driver licenses or driving privileges for certain persons found guilty of certain drug offenses; deleting requirements relating to the revocation or suspension of, or delay of eligibility for, driver licenses or driving privileges for certain persons found guilty of certain alcohol or tobacco offenses; deleting provisions authorizing a driver to petition the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles for restoration of his or her driving privilege;

322.057, F.S., repealed; relating to discretionary revocation or suspension of a driver license for certain persons who provide alcohol to persons under a specified age

322.75, F.S.; creating a new statute; requiring each clerk of court to establish a Driver License Reinstatement Days program for reinstating suspended driver licenses in certain circumstances; providing duties of the clerks of the circuit courts and the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; authorizing such clerks to compromise on or waive certain fees and costs; providing eligibility requirements;

562.111, F.S.; removing the mandatory driver license suspension requirement for conviction of possession of alcohol by a person younger than 21 years of age;

784.046, F.S.; amending; prohibiting attorney fees in cases seeking an injunction for protection against repeat, dating, or sexual violence;

784.048, F.S.; amending; revising the definition of the term "cyberstalk"; providing criminal penalties;

784.0485, F.S.; amending ;prohibiting attorney fees in cases seeking an injunction for protection against stalking;

812.014, F.S.; increasing threshold amounts for certain theft offenses; adding utility services to the list of items the theft of which constitutes a felony of the third degree;

943.0578, F.S.; creating a new statute; establishing eligibility criteria for expunction of a criminal history record by a person found to have acted in lawful self-defense; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to issue a certificate of eligibility for expunction if specified criteria are fulfilled; specifying requirements for a petition to expunge; creating a penalty for providing false information on such petition; requiring the department to adopt rules relating to a certificate of expunction for lawful self-defense;　

943.0581, F.S.; clarifying administrative expunction applies to criminal history records resulting from an arrest made contrary to law or by mistake;

943.0584, F.S.; creating a new statute providing a definition; specifying criminal history records which are ineligible for court-ordered expunction or court-ordered sealing;

943.0585, F.S.; amending; providing eligibility criteria for court-ordered expunction of a criminal history record; requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to issue a certificate of eligibility to petitioners meeting eligibility criteria; specifying requirements for a petition for court-ordered expunction; specifying a court's authority to expunge criminal history records; specifying the process for a petition to expunge a criminal history record;

943.059, F.S.; amending; providing eligibility criteria for court-ordered sealing of a criminal history record;

943.0595, F.S.; creating a new statute requiring the Department of Law Enforcement to adopt rules to implement administrative sealing of specified criminal history records;

948.001, F.S.; revising the definition of administrative probation; authorizing a court to order an offender into administrative probation;

948.04, F.S.; amending; requiring a court to early terminate a term of probation or convert the term to administrative probation under certain circumstances;

948.06, F.S.; amending; requiring a court to modify or continue a probationary term under certain circumstances; requiring each judicial circuit to establish an alternative sanctioning program; defining low- and moderate-risk level technical violations of probation; establishing permissible sanctions for low- and moderate-risk violations of probation under the program; establishing eligibility criteria;

958.04, F.S.; revising the criteria authorizing a court to sentence as a youthful offender a person who is found guilty of, or who pled nolo contendere or guilty to, committing a felony before the person turned 21 years of age;

Looks like a good time for FACDL to sponsor a seminar covering all of the new laws that concern the criminal justice system.

CAPTAIN OUT .......
Captain4Justice@gmail.com