The Florida Senate

27.366  Legislative intent and policy in cases meeting criteria of s. 775.087(2) and (3); report.--

(1)  It is the intent of the Legislature that convicted criminal offenders who meet the criteria in s. 775.087(2) and (3) be sentenced to the minimum mandatory prison terms provided herein. It is the intent of the Legislature to establish zero tolerance of criminals who use, threaten to use, or avail themselves of firearms in order to commit crimes and thereby demonstrate their lack of value for human life. It is also the intent of the Legislature that prosecutors should appropriately exercise their discretion in those cases in which the offenders' possession of the firearm is incidental to the commission of a crime and not used in furtherance of the crime, used in order to commit the crime, or used in preparation to commit the crime. For every case in which the offender meets the criteria in this act and does not receive the mandatory minimum prison sentence, the state attorney must explain the sentencing deviation in writing and place such explanation in the case file maintained by the state attorney. On a quarterly basis, each state attorney shall submit copies of deviation memoranda regarding offenses committed on or after the effective date of this act to the President of the Florida Prosecuting Attorneys Association, Inc. The association must maintain such information and make such information available to the public upon request for at least a 10-year period.

(2)  Effective July 1, 2000, each state attorney shall annually report to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the President of the Senate, and the Executive Office of the Governor regarding the prosecution and sentencing of offenders who met the criteria in s. 775.087(2) and (3). The report must categorize the defendants by age, gender, race, and ethnicity. Cases in which a final disposition has not yet been reached shall be reported in a subsequent annual report.

History.--s. 2, ch. 99-12.