Florida Senate - 2013                                    SB 1060
       
       
       
       By Senator Dean
       
       
       
       
       5-01062-13                                            20131060__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to websites containing information
    3         concerning persons charged with crimes; creating s.
    4         836.12, F.S.; requiring that the operators of websites
    5         containing personal information of persons charged
    6         with crimes remove a person’s name and personal
    7         information within a specified period after notice
    8         that the person is acquitted or the charges are
    9         dropped or otherwise resolved without conviction;
   10         providing a civil penalty; providing for a presumption
   11         of defamation; providing an effective date.
   12  
   13  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   14  
   15         Section 1. Section 836.12, Florida Statutes, is created to
   16  read:
   17         836.12 Websites containing information concerning persons
   18  charged with crimes.—The operator of a website that contains the
   19  name and personal information, including any photograph or
   20  digital image, of a person charged with a crime shall, within 15
   21  days after written notification from the person or the person’s
   22  designee, remove the person’s name and personal information if
   23  the person is acquitted or the charges are dropped or otherwise
   24  resolved without a conviction. The removal must be without
   25  charge to the person. Failure of the website operator to remove
   26  the person’s name or personal information shall result in a
   27  civil penalty of $100 per instance per week and, after 45 days,
   28  creates a presumption of defamation of character of the person.
   29         Section 2. This act shall take effect October 1, 2013.