Three Juvenile Justice Bills Moving in Florida House

The Florida House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee just Maggots in my Sweet Potatoes: Women Doing Timepassed three juvenile justice-related bills, one essentially expanding Florida’s civil citation program, one expunging a juvenile’s record at 21 if there are no further infractions and one holding the miscreant’s parents responsible for financial damage, if they can afford to pay.

It allows law enforcement to have the discretion to issue civil citations to a juvenile who admits to a misdemeanor, rather than sending them to prison.

Monica McIntyre from Daytona Beach backs the citations bill:

I am a parent of a son who was arrested last year for stealing $40 worth of cards out of a store. Last night, I googled his name, and his mug shot still shows. So, this is not excusing their behavior, but this is just allowing them to move forward .

Fred Bergeron representing Prince of Peace Catholic Church brought up the example of a five year-old special-needs child he heard about last year who now has a record:

She slapped the Kleenex out of a teacher’s hand, and although she wasn’t handcuffed, our school resource officer did file the paperwork, and now she has a misdemeanor for battery on her criminal record. She is now going to be branded a criminal for the rest of her life. She will face barriers to getting employment and getting college scholarships.

Still, while the Florida Retail Federation supports the premise of the bill, its General Counsel expressed concerns about limiting the number of citations to three—as opposed to an unlimited amount as the bill currently allows for.

The bill’s sponsors are also expected to look into including a civil citation database that all law enforcement can have access to.

Another measure that passed has been filed for the past several years that and garnered support in the House but not in the Senate, but the author believes it has a chance this year as it’s starting to move in that chamber.

Rep. Dane Eagle of Cape Coral explains the reason for his bill:

A juvenile had broken into one of my constituent’s home and caused a significant amount of damages. He was tried and convicted. The judge tried to order restitution on the juvenile, but he was unable to pay. Due to a loophole in the law, the parents were not held reasonable. At the end of the day, through no fault of her own, the victim was stuck with the bill.

Eagle’s measure expands the court authority to make those kind of calls:

It would apply strict restitution, or strict liability upon the parents of the juvenile committing the crime. There are instances where the judge is able to take into account the parent’s financial situation. If it’s up to their purview, they’d be able to ask for payment plans or it could be community service could be done in lieu of financial payment.

The measure passed the committee unanimously, as did another measure expunging the criminal records of minors by the time they turn 21 if they’re not classified as serious or habitual offenders.

Rep. Chris Latvala of Clearwater, the bill’s main sponsor, explained:

This issue was actually brought to my attention as a result of a case in my district of a young lady who is now 27 or 28 years old who was a 16-year-old foster kid at the time that she threw an egg out the window, got charged with a felony, didn’t have good legal representation and pled guilty to a felony, which has followed her throughout her life.

Latvala promised to look into whether there’s enough money in the budget to allow juveniles in the foster care system to be eligible for fee waivers in the expungement of their records.

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