Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/flanews/public_html/wp-config.php on line 37
Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » Senate Clears Public Records Exemption for Mass Shootings

Welcome to

Capitol News Service

Florida's Best Political Coverage on Television

 


 


 


Recent Posts

RSS Quote of the Day

  • Helen Hayes
    "We relish news of our heroes, forgetting that we are extraordinary to somebody too."
  • Samuel Butler
    "God cannot alter the past, though historians can."
  • Edith Wharton
    "True originality consists not in a new manner but in a new vision."
  • Pope Paul VI
    "Never reach out your hand unless you're willing to extend an arm."

Senate Clears Public Records Exemption for Mass Shootings

March 27th, 2019 by Mike Vasilinda

Photographs, video or audio from mass killings in Florida could soon be out of the sunshine.

Legislation approved by the State Senate today makes it a crime to release the material, and someone who does could spend up to five years in prison.

The legislation was once so broad the infamous video showing Broward Sheriff’s deputies not going into Marjorie Stoneman Douglass High School to stop a killer could not have been released.

The First Amendment Foundation objected.

“Law enforcement. One agency was accusing another agency. Why didn’t they engage the shooter sooner, more effectively. It was the ability to access those records and then the reporting on them that made a difference,” said Barbara Petersen with the First Amendment Foundation.

Because of the foundation’s efforts, lawmakers narrowed the public records exemption to just the actual killing of three people or more.

It leaves intact the right to see what lead up to the event.

“This removes the language about causation that we had before,” said State Senator Jose Javier Rodriguez.

Senate sponsor Tom Lee says the narrowing was a recognition.

“Government can not be responsible for policing itself. And the public has, under our laws here in the state of Florida and the United States has a right to access to information, so we don’t do these things lightly. What we are narrowing down are a lot of things that are causing people distress,” said Lee.

The legislation also seeks to keep private any existing video of a mass shooting.

If it becomes public, then video from Pulse or Stoneman Douglass could not be released.

The legislation makes the release a third degree felony if a records custodian released the photos or video, but nothing in the bill prohibits a victims family members from releasing the recording.

The bill does leave open the door for someone to go to court to get the video, but more often than not, the cost of going to court is prohibitive.

Posted in State News | No Comments »

Comments are closed.

copyright © 2016 by Capitol News Service | Powered by Wordpress | Hosted by LyonsHost.com