The proposed legislation seeks to create new criminal offenses and increase penalties for those who target law-enforcement officers or participate in violent or disorderly assemblies.
The proposed law would make it a third-degree felony if seven or more persons are involved in an assembly that results in damage to property or injury to other persons.
It would make it a third-degree felony to obstruct traffic during an un-permitted protest, demonstration or violent disorderly assembly. Drivers, moreover, won’t be liable for any injuries or deaths that they may cause if they are fleeing a mob for safety reasons.
The proposed law would make it a second-degree felony to destroy public property during a violent or disorderly assembly, including the destruction or toppling of monuments.
It would make it a first-degree misdemeanor for a participant in a violent or disorderly assembly to harass or intimidate a person who is at a public accommodation, such as a restaurant.
And it would make a person subject to RICO liability if the individual organizes or funds a violent or disorderly assembly.
In Florida, a third-degree felony carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. It may, however, also carry a lesser sentence or probation.
A second-degree felony carries a maximum of 15 years in prison. But likewise, it may carry a lesser sentence or probation.
A first-degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to a year in jail. Examples of first-degree misdemeanors include simple battery, disorderly conduct and DUI.
RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations. Passed in 1970, the law has gained a reputation as “the ultimate hit man” in mob prosecutions.
A person found guilty of racketeering can be fined up to $25,000 and sentenced to 20 years in prison for each racketeering charge. The individual also must forfeit all ill-gotten gains and interest in any business if the gain or interest was through a pattern of “racketeering activity,” among other things.
The proposed law would also increase penalties for offenses that target law-enforcement officers.
The law would require a six-month minimum mandatory jail sentence for any person who strikes an officer during a violent or disorderly assembly, including hitting with a projectile.
It would enhance or heighten penalties for offenses that occur during violent or disorderly assembly if the incident involves striking a civilian or law-enforcement officer with a thrown projectile, assaulting or battering an officer, or if a participant is from out-of-state.
The proposed legislation would also prohibit state grants or aid from going to any local government that slashes its budget for law-enforcement services. And it waives local governments’ sovereign immunity, thus allowing victims of crimes related to violent or disorderly assemblies to sue them for damages if a local government is found to have been grossly negligent in protecting persons and properties.
The proposed law would terminate and make ineligible for state or local government employment, anyone who is convicted of participating in a violent or disorderly assembly; and it would deny a person bond or bail until first appearance in court if the person is charged with a crime related to a violent or disorderly assembly, with a rebuttable presumption against bond or fail after the first appearance.
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