The Senate Ethics and Elections Committee voted unanimously Monday in favor of confirming Guy Tunnell as head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The confirmation will be considered today by the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.
The former Bay County sheriff, who was nominated to become the state's top law enforcement officer in September by Gov. Jeb Bush and took over the agency pending confirmation, had to defend himself against allegations of racism stemming from his time as sheriff. He "categorically denied" them.
The Bay County Sheriff's Office was accused by black civil rights activists of raiding a black Panama City nightclub, the Sundancer, unfairly and repeatedly as part of a white conspiracy to shut it down.
But several witnesses, including two black men, testified Tunnell never showed signs of being a racist. And a member of the panel, Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, who as a prosecutor once looked into the allegations, agreed. "There was no indication in my view of any discriminatory actions," Smith said.
Tunnell also addressed an issue brought up when he first ran for Bay County sheriff: that he experimented with marijuana in high school.
He acknowledged he had, but said it was his only experience with the drug, noting that he was "apprehended ... within five minutes of taking my first puff."
U of Miami doctors' bill stalls
A measure to protect doctors at the private University of Miami medical school from large malpractice lawsuits arising out of treatment of patients at a public hospital stalled.
The bill (SB 2948), sponsored by Sen. Gwen Margolis, D-Aventura, would give the UM doctors the same lawsuit protection enjoyed by doctors at public hospitals, which the school argues they essentially become when treating patients at the public Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Supporters of the bill said they may be short of the votes needed to get it through the Senate Health, Aging and Long-Term Care Committee, and postponed action.
No immunity on mammograms
Supporters of an effort to give radiologists immunity from lawsuits for misreading mammograms retreated Monday in the face of Senate opposition, and instead backed a bill to study how accessible the breast cancer screening tests are.
The measure (SB 2306) was put forth by Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, as an effort to increase the ability of women to get the tests and the results, with doctors saying fears of heavy lawsuit damages are creating access problems. Her bill had the support of the American Cancer Society.
But being only a year removed from a politically bruising battle over medical malpractice lawsuits, the measure wasn't likely to pass.
Under the amended measure approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee, legislative auditors will be required to study the accessibility of mammograms.
Sex slavery would be state crime
Trafficking of women or children into sexual slavery would be a felony under a measure approved unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Federal antitrafficking laws exist, but supporters of the measure (SB 1962) say the federal government has limited resources to track down violators.
The measure, sponsored by Sen. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, needs approval from two more Senate committees before it can be heard by the full chamber.
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