Florida Senate - 2009 COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
Bill No. SB 1430
Barcode 163518
LEGISLATIVE ACTION
Senate . House
Comm: RCS .
03/18/2009 .
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The Committee on Criminal Justice (King) recommended the
following:
1 Senate Amendment (with title amendment)
2
3 Delete everything after the enacting clause
4 and insert:
5 Section 1. This act may be cited as the “Second Chance for
6 Children in Prison Act of 2009.”
7 Section 2. Paragraph (f) is added to subsection (1) of
8 section 947.16, Florida Statutes, subsections (2) through (6)
9 are renumbered as subsections (4) through (8), respectively, and
10 new subsections (2) and (3) are added to that section, to read:
11 947.16 Eligibility for parole; initial parole interviews;
12 powers and duties of commission; adolescent offender
13 eligibility.—
14 (1) Every person who has been convicted of a felony or who
15 has been convicted of one or more misdemeanors and whose
16 sentence or cumulative sentences total 12 months or more, who is
17 confined in execution of the judgment of the court, and whose
18 record during confinement or while under supervision is good,
19 shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be eligible for
20 interview for parole consideration of her or his cumulative
21 sentence structure as follows:
22 (f)1. As used in this paragraph and subsections (2) and
23 (3), the term:
24 a. “Adolescent offender” means an offender who was 15 years
25 of age or younger at the time the criminal act was committed and
26 was sentenced to life or to a single or cumulative term of
27 imprisonment of 10 years or more.
28 b. “Current offense” means the offense for which the
29 adolescent offender is being considered for parole and any other
30 crimes committed by the adolescent offender within a 1-month
31 period of that offense, or for which sentences run concurrent to
32 that offense.
33 2. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection or of
34 any other law to the contrary, an adolescent offender may be
35 eligible for parole as provided in this paragraph. An adolescent
36 offender is ineligible under this paragraph if she or he, before
37 conviction of the current offense, was convicted or adjudicated
38 delinquent of or had adjudication withheld for any violation of:
39 a. Section 782.04, entitled “Murder”;
40 b. Section 784.041, entitled “Felony battery; domestic
41 battery by strangulation”;
42 c. Section 784.045, entitled “Aggravated battery”;
43 d. Section 784.07, entitled “Assault or battery of law
44 enforcement officers, firefighters, emergency medical care
45 providers, public transit employees or agents, or other
46 specified officers; reclassification of offenses; minimum
47 sentences”;
48 e. Section 784.08, entitled “Assault or battery on persons
49 65 years of age or older; reclassification of offenses; minimum
50 sentence”;
51 f. Section 787.01, entitled "Kidnapping; kidnapping of
52 child under age 13, aggravating circumstances";
53 g. Section 790.07, entitled “Persons engaged in criminal
54 offense, having weapons”;
55 h. Section 794.011, entitled “Sexual battery”;
56 i. Section 812.133, entitled “Carjacking”;
57 j. Section 812.135, entitled “Home-invasion robbery”;
58 k. Section 827.03, entitled “Abuse, aggravated abuse, and
59 neglect of a child; penalties”; or
60 l. Section 828.12, entitled “Cruelty to animals.”
61 3. Before an adolescent offender may be granted parole
62 under this paragraph, she or he must have an initial eligibility
63 interview to determine whether she or he has been sufficiently
64 rehabilitated while in the custody of the department to justify
65 granting parole. The initial eligibility interview will occur in
66 the eighth year of incarceration. In order to determine if the
67 adolescent offender has been sufficiently rehabilitated, she or
68 he must have successfully completed the General Educational
69 Development (GED) program unless waived based on disability and
70 have received no approved disciplinary reports for a period of
71 at least 2 years immediately prior to the current eligibility
72 interview. The hearing examiner must also take into serious
73 consideration the wishes of the victim or the opinions of the
74 victim’s next of kin and must also consider whether:
75 a. The adolescent offender was a principal to the criminal
76 offense or an accomplice to the offense, a relatively minor
77 participant in the criminal offense, or acted under extreme
78 duress or domination of another person.
79 b. The adolescent offender has shown remorse for the
80 criminal offense.
81 c. The adolescent offender’s age, maturity, and
82 psychological development at the time of the offense affected
83 her or his behavior.
84 d. The adolescent offender, while in the custody of the
85 department, has aided inmates suffering from catastrophic or
86 terminal medical, mental, or physical conditions or has
87 prevented risk or injury to staff, citizens, or other inmates.
88 e. The adolescent offender has successfully completed
89 educational and self-rehabilitation programs.
90 f. The adolescent offender was a victim of sexual,
91 physical, or emotional abuse.
92 4. An adolescent offender who is not granted parole under
93 this paragraph after an initial eligibility interview shall be
94 eligible for a reinterview 2 years after the date of the denial
95 of the grant of parole and every 2 years thereafter.
96 (2) An adolescent offender must serve her or his sentence
97 in a facility that has a General Educational Development (GED)
98 program unless the adolescent offender has already successfully
99 completed a GED program.
100 (3) If the adolescent offender is granted parole, the
101 adolescent offender must participate in any available reentry
102 program for 2 years. As used in this subsection, the term
103 “reentry program” means a program that promotes effective
104 reintegration of offenders back into communities upon release
105 and provides one or more of the following: vocational training,
106 placement services, transitional housing, mentoring, or drug
107 rehabilitation. Priority shall be given to those reentry
108 programs that are residential, highly structured, self-reliant,
109 and therapeutic communities.
110 Section 3. An adolescent offender, as defined in s.
111 947.16(1)(f), Florida Statutes, as created by this act, in his
112 or her eighth or subsequent year of incarceration on the
113 effective date of this act must receive an initial eligibility
114 interview as provided in s. 947.16(1)(f)3., Florida Statutes, as
115 created by this act, if he or she is otherwise eligible.
116 Section 4. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law
117 and shall apply retroactively.
118
119
120 ================= T I T L E A M E N D M E N T ================
121 And the title is amended as follows:
122 Delete everything before the enacting clause
123 and insert:
124 An act relating to parole for adolescent offenders; providing a
125 short title; amending s. 947.16, F.S.; providing definitions;
126 providing that an adolescent offender who was 15 years of age or
127 younger at the time of commission of an offense and who is
128 sentenced to life or more than 10 years in prison is eligible
129 for parole if the offender has been incarcerated for a minimum
130 period and has not previously been convicted or adjudicated
131 delinquent of or had adjudication withheld for certain offenses;
132 requiring an initial eligibility interview to determine whether
133 the adolescent offender has been sufficiently rehabilitated for
134 parole; providing criteria to determine sufficient
135 rehabilitation; providing eligibility for a reinterview after a
136 specified period for adolescent offenders denied parole;
137 providing that the adolescent offender be incarcerated in a
138 facility with a GED program; providing that if the adolescent
139 offender is granted parole, the adolescent offender must
140 participate in any available reentry program for 2 years;
141 defining the term “reentry program”; providing priority for
142 certain programs; providing for eligibility for an initial
143 eligibility interview for offenders in their eighth or
144 subsequent year of incarceration on the effective date of the
145 act; providing for retroactive application; providing an
146 effective date.