Florida’s Senate Bill 560: Renaming the Criminal Punishment Code
Senator Brandes is sponsoring SB 560, the objective of which is “Renaming the Criminal Punishment Code as the Public Safety Code; revising the primary purpose of sentencing under the Public Safety Code from punishing an offender to public safety”
This sounds like a great concept. Criminal Justice shouldn’t be about public safety! But will this bill, if passed, take into account the new “primary purpose” of criminal justice laws as being public safety? Let’s hope so!
Since this bill covers the criminal statutes including the registration statutes and the primary purpose of the statute is ‘Public Safety’ it would certainly make sense that the registration laws have a demonstrable impact on public safety, right?
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Could it be since they like to say that The Sexual Offender Registry is not PUNISHMENT, they feel they better stop calling it Criminal Punishment Law?? Who is going to agree to change anything that comes under “Public Safety”?
This has the stink of Unintended Consequences. Pubic safety will that include Bullys? Drug infractions? DUI? Public Safety is such a feel good term that can apply to ANYTHING not currently agreed upon. Another example of a politician creating a problem where a problem did not previously exist.
Apparently “public safety” only deals with that horrible thing called “sex”.
“Public safety” means you can’t urinate behind a bush. Maybe we can start arresting dogs for urinating on fire hydrants. We seem to be heading in that direction in the good ol’ USA.
I may be reading into this the wrong way, but it seems as if he is trying to rid of the word punishment as to criminal punishment, to a more administrative or regulatory term such as public safety. Maybe to justify the registry that it isn’t punishment but a public safety issue ? Like I said, maybe I read into it wrong.
I suspect you are exactly right. The Supreme Court has allowed laws such as registration to be applied retroactively because they are not punishment, but serve a legitimate public safety purpose. Changing the name of the codes will only reinforce that view. Call me paranoid, but I see the name change as insidious move.
It is important that registries be determined to be a form of punishment. That opens the door to challenges such as ex post facto and to cruel and unusual punishment.
Betting there will be a whole separate section for sex offense punishment that will look nothing remotely like “reform.”
My guess is that by renaming ‘punishment’ as ‘public safety’ RSO can receive additional punishment….I mean public safety rules.
If registration fell under the criminal punishment code all this time without having been declared ex post facto, that suggests that the name of the code does not matter.
But overall, Brandes is a sensible senator, and this bill is harmless.
Even though Brandes is for justice reform, I believe he is the senator who added on the amendment this past session, trying to require that all registrants would have to register 48 hours in advanced with the sheriff’s office of the county in which they planned on a stay at a hotel in Florida. In addition, the hotel would have to notify everyone staying at the hotel that a registrant would be staying for the night. I lost all confidence in him after that absurdity was proposed. I trust someone will correct me if I have the wrong senator.
An added note: Ronnie’s talk tonight on the monthly FAC call was excellent, as I am sure all will agree. We also got to see some of the hard work our leadership team is doing behind the scenes. They are truly a blessing to all of us.
I do not recall Brandes’ name on that awful hotel bill amendment. I reserve the right to revise my assessment of him.
Quite possibly I am incorrect in giving Brandes credit for such an amendment.
@SarahF/Jacob,
I believe the bill you speak of was CS/CS/HB987. It was introduced by Grant and Sabatini. While in the Commerce Committee, the asinine 48-hour and notification provisos where added at the behest of Santiago and Goff-Marcil. Thank God this bill died, because it was on the calendar and about to be voted on.
The Senate companion bill was SB 824. It was introduced by Diaz, but the aforementioned provisos were attempted to be added while the bill was in the Innovation, Industry, and Technology Committee by Farmer. Thankfully, it died in that committee.