Florida Catholic | Immigration, Ultrasounds, Wrongful Incarceration Fill Legislative Agenda

Immigration, ultrasounds, wrongful incarceration fill legislative agenda

JACQUELYN HORKAN | FLORIDA CATHOLIC

Posted: 04.09.08

TALLAHASSEE | A bill that would allow abortion-minded mothers to view ultrasounds of their unborn babies narrowly passed a Senate committee on Tuesday, April 8, setting up a legislative showdown that will clearly demark which lawmakers support the right to life.

SB 2400 would require abortion clinics to perform ultrasounds on all pregnant women seeking abortions. Current law requires ultrasounds in the second and third trimester. Abortion clinics are not required to show mothers the ultrasound images; SB 2400 would require clinic personnel to offer their patients the opportunity to see what their unborn babies look like on the ultrasound monitor.

The bill passed the Senate Committee on Health Regulation by a 4 to 3 vote. Sen. Dennis Jones (R-Seminole) split ranks with his party to support the bill, while Orlando Democrat Sen. Gary Siplin voted for the bill, ensuring its passage.

SB 756, a bill setting up an automatic process for compensating those who are wrongly incarcerated, was unanimously approved by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee on Tuesday. Currently an innocent person who has been released from prison must ask lawmakers to pass a claims bill, reimbursing him for the lost years he spent behind bars.

On Monday, lawmakers sent one of those claims bills, HB 7037 to Gov. Charlie Crist. That bill compensates Alan Crotzer for the 24 years he spent in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The governor has indicated that he will sign the bill and when he does, Crotzer will receive $1.25 million and 120 hours of free college education.

Luis Diaz, another man who was exonerated after serving prison time, has his own claims bill pending. If SB 756 were enacted by the Legislature, however Diaz and others like him will not have to wait for lawmakers to pass a bill. Instead, once a court exonerates them, they will be automatically eligible for compensation in the amount of $50,000 for every year spent behind bars and 120 tuition-free hours of college education.

SB 756 was amended on Tuesday to limit compensation to those with no felony record, aligning the bill more closely with House version, HB 1025. SB 756 must pass one more committee before it reaches the Senate Floor. HB 1025 is pending before the full House.

On Tuesday, the House Committee on State Affairs held a workshop on a group of anti-immigrant bills. During a workshop, opponents and supporters of a bill are allowed to speak but the bill is not open for amendments or a vote. The measures discussed at the workshop include provisions denying social services to undocumented aliens, punishing employers for hiring them, and prohibiting them from receiving driver’s licenses or ID cards.

Limiting the hearing on these bills to a workshop so late in the session means that they are unlikely to move any further.

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Immigration, ultrasounds, wrongful incarceration fill legislative agenda

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