Bill Text: FL S0134 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Crimes Evidencing Prejudice

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2024-03-08 - Died in Criminal Justice [S0134 Detail]

Download: Florida-2024-S0134-Introduced.html

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       Florida Senate - 2024                                     SB 134
       
       
        
       By Senator Berman
       
       
       
       
       
       26-00038-24                                            2024134__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to crimes evidencing prejudice;
    3         amending s. 775.085, F.S.; expanding grounds for the
    4         reclassification of crimes to include acts of
    5         prejudice based on the gender or gender identity of
    6         any person; specifying that the reclassification must
    7         occur if the crime was based in whole or in part on
    8         the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion, sexual
    9         orientation, national origin, homeless status,
   10         advanced age, gender, or gender identity of any
   11         person; revising the definitions of the terms
   12         “advanced age” and “homeless status”; defining the
   13         term “gender identity”; amending s. 775.0863, F.S.;
   14         replacing the term “mental or physical disability”
   15         with the term “disability”; defining the term
   16         “disability”; specifying that the reclassification of
   17         a certain crime must occur if the crime was based in
   18         whole or in part on a disability of any person;
   19         amending s. 877.19, F.S.; expanding the data the
   20         Governor is required to collect and disseminate to
   21         include incidents of criminal acts that evidence
   22         prejudice based on gender, gender identity, or
   23         disability; providing an effective date.
   24          
   25  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   26  
   27         Section 1. Section 775.085, Florida Statutes, is amended to
   28  read:
   29         775.085 Evidencing prejudice while committing offense;
   30  reclassification.—
   31         (1)(a) The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor shall be
   32  reclassified as provided in this subsection if the commission of
   33  such felony or misdemeanor evidences prejudice based in whole or
   34  in part on the race, color, ancestry, ethnicity, religion,
   35  sexual orientation, national origin, homeless status, or
   36  advanced age, gender, or gender identity of any person the
   37  victim:
   38         1. A misdemeanor of the second degree is reclassified to a
   39  misdemeanor of the first degree.
   40         2. A misdemeanor of the first degree is reclassified to a
   41  felony of the third degree.
   42         3. A felony of the third degree is reclassified to a felony
   43  of the second degree.
   44         4. A felony of the second degree is reclassified to a
   45  felony of the first degree.
   46         5. A felony of the first degree is reclassified to a life
   47  felony.
   48         (b) As used in paragraph (a), the term:
   49         1. “Advanced age” means that the person victim is older
   50  than 65 years of age.
   51         2. “Gender identity” means a person’s gender-related
   52  identity, appearance, or behavior, regardless of whether such
   53  gender-related identity, appearance, or behavior is different
   54  from that traditionally associated with the person’s physiology
   55  or assigned sex at birth.
   56         3.2. “Homeless status” means that the person victim:
   57         a. Lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime
   58  residence; or
   59         b. Has a primary nighttime residence that is:
   60         (I) A supervised publicly or privately operated shelter
   61  designed to provide temporary living accommodations; or
   62         (II) A public or private place not designed for, or
   63  ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human
   64  beings.
   65         (2) A person or organization that establishes by clear and
   66  convincing evidence that it has been coerced, intimidated, or
   67  threatened in violation of this section has a civil cause of
   68  action for treble damages, an injunction, or any other
   69  appropriate relief in law or in equity. Upon prevailing in such
   70  civil action, the plaintiff may recover reasonable attorney fees
   71  and costs.
   72         (3) It is an essential element of this section that the
   73  record reflect that the defendant perceived, knew, or had
   74  reasonable grounds to know or perceive that the person victim
   75  was included in a within the class delineated in this section.
   76         Section 2. Section 775.0863, Florida Statutes, is amended
   77  to read:
   78         775.0863 Evidencing prejudice while committing offense
   79  against person with mental or physical disability;
   80  reclassification.—
   81         (1)(a) The penalty for any felony or misdemeanor shall be
   82  reclassified as provided in this subsection if the commission of
   83  such felony or misdemeanor evidences prejudice based in whole or
   84  in part on a mental or physical disability of any person the
   85  victim:
   86         1. A misdemeanor of the second degree is reclassified to a
   87  misdemeanor of the first degree.
   88         2. A misdemeanor of the first degree is reclassified to a
   89  felony of the third degree.
   90         3. A felony of the third degree is reclassified to a felony
   91  of the second degree.
   92         4. A felony of the second degree is reclassified to a
   93  felony of the first degree.
   94         5. A felony of the first degree is reclassified to a life
   95  felony.
   96         (b) As used in paragraph (a), the term “disability” “mental
   97  or physical disability” means a physical or mental impairment
   98  that substantially limits one or more of a person’s major life
   99  activities a condition of mental or physical incapacitation due
  100  to a developmental disability, organic brain damage, or mental
  101  illness, and one or more mental or physical limitations that
  102  restrict a person’s ability to perform the normal activities of
  103  daily living.
  104         (2) A person or organization that establishes by clear and
  105  convincing evidence that it has been coerced, intimidated, or
  106  threatened in violation of this section has a civil cause of
  107  action for treble damages, an injunction, or any other
  108  appropriate relief in law or in equity. Upon prevailing in such
  109  civil action, the plaintiff may recover reasonable attorney fees
  110  and costs.
  111         (3) It is an essential element of this section that the
  112  record reflect that the defendant perceived, knew, or had
  113  reasonable grounds to know or perceive that the person victim
  114  was included in within the class delineated in this section.
  115         Section 3. Subsection (2) of section 877.19, Florida
  116  Statutes, is amended to read:
  117         877.19 Hate Crimes Reporting Act.—
  118         (2) ACQUISITION AND PUBLICATION OF DATA.—The Governor,
  119  through the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, shall collect
  120  and disseminate data on incidents of criminal acts that evidence
  121  prejudice based on race, religion, ethnicity, color, ancestry,
  122  sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, disability, or
  123  national origin. All law enforcement agencies shall report
  124  monthly to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concerning
  125  such offenses in such form and in such manner as prescribed by
  126  rules adopted by the department. Such information shall be
  127  compiled by the department and disseminated upon request to any
  128  local law enforcement agency, unit of local government, or state
  129  agency.
  130         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024.