Florida Senate - 2019                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for SB 642
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì425892EÎ425892                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                   Comm: WD            .                                
                  04/16/2019           .                                
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       Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice
       (Bracy) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 140 - 188
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 3. Paragraphs (d) and (f) of subsection (4) of
    6  section 944.275, Florida Statutes, are amended to read:
    7         944.275 Gain-time.—
    8         (4)
    9         (d) Notwithstanding the monthly maximum awards of incentive
   10  gain-time under subparagraphs (b)1., 2., and 3., the education
   11  program manager shall recommend, and the Department of
   12  Corrections may grant, a one-time award of 60 additional days of
   13  incentive gain-time for each of the following to an inmate who
   14  is otherwise eligible and who:
   15         1. Successfully completes requirements for and is, or has
   16  been during the current commitment, awarded a high school
   17  equivalency diploma or vocational certificate; or
   18         2.Has completed the Prison Entrepreneurship Program. Under
   19  no circumstances may an inmate receive more than 60 days for
   20  educational attainment pursuant to this section.
   21         (f) An inmate who is subject to subparagraph (b)3. is not
   22  eligible to earn or receive gain-time under paragraph (a),
   23  paragraph (b), paragraph (c), or paragraph (d) or any other type
   24  of gain-time in an amount that would cause a sentence to expire,
   25  end, or terminate, or that would result in a prisoner’s release,
   26  prior to serving a minimum of 65 85 percent of the sentence
   27  imposed. An inmate who is currently serving a sentence for or
   28  has been previously convicted of a dangerous crime as defined in
   29  s. 907.041, or a violation specified as a predicate offense for
   30  registration as a sexual predator under s. 775.21 or for
   31  registration as a sexual offender under s. 943.0435, is not
   32  eligible to earn or receive gain-time under paragraphs (a)
   33  through (d), or any other type of gain-time in an amount that
   34  would cause a sentence to expire, end, or terminate, or that
   35  would result in a prisoner’s release, before serving a minimum
   36  of 65 percent of the sentence imposed. For purposes of this
   37  paragraph, credits awarded by the court for time physically
   38  incarcerated shall be credited toward satisfaction of 65 85
   39  percent of the sentence imposed. Except as provided by this
   40  section, a prisoner may not accumulate further gain-time awards
   41  at any point when the tentative release date is the same as that
   42  date at which the prisoner will have served 65 85 percent of the
   43  sentence imposed. State prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment
   44  shall be incarcerated for the rest of their natural lives,
   45  unless granted pardon or clemency.
   46         Section 4. Paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of section
   47  921.002, Florida Statutes, is amended to read:
   48         921.002 The Criminal Punishment Code.—The Criminal
   49  Punishment Code shall apply to all felony offenses, except
   50  capital felonies, committed on or after October 1, 1998.
   51         (1) The provision of criminal penalties and of limitations
   52  upon the application of such penalties is a matter of
   53  predominantly substantive law and, as such, is a matter properly
   54  addressed by the Legislature. The Legislature, in the exercise
   55  of its authority and responsibility to establish sentencing
   56  criteria, to provide for the imposition of criminal penalties,
   57  and to make the best use of state prisons so that violent
   58  criminal offenders are appropriately incarcerated, has
   59  determined that it is in the best interest of the state to
   60  develop, implement, and revise a sentencing policy. The Criminal
   61  Punishment Code embodies the principles that:
   62         (e) The sentence imposed by the sentencing judge reflects
   63  the length of actual time to be served, shortened only by the
   64  application of incentive and meritorious gain-time as provided
   65  by law, and may not be shortened if the defendant would
   66  consequently serve less than 65 85 percent of his or her term of
   67  imprisonment as provided in s. 944.275(4). The provisions of
   68  chapter 947, relating to parole, shall not apply to persons
   69  sentenced under the Criminal Punishment Code.
   70  
   71  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   72  And the title is amended as follows:
   73         Delete lines 14 - 18
   74  and insert:
   75         deleting a provision limiting the amount of additional
   76         days of incentive gain-time an inmate may receive for
   77         educational attainment; revising circumstances under
   78         which certain inmates are not eligible for certain
   79         types of gain-time in amounts that would cause a
   80         sentence to end or require a release before serving a
   81         minimum percentage of a sentence; amending s. 921.002,
   82         F.S.; conforming a provision to changes made by the
   83         act; amending s. 944.611, F.S.; providing