Politics

Governor signs several crime bills

Getting tougher on certain criminals has become a priority.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 21, 2007

TALLAHASSEE - People who attack police, judges and other law enforcement officials could get longer sentences, as could drunken drivers who kill someone in an accident and leave the scene, in legislation Gov. Charlie Crist signed Wednesday.

Protecting innocent people is state government's highest priority, Crist said as he was surrounded by police officers and the parents of a boy killed by a drunken driver who fled the scene.

Another bill (SB 988) Crist signed Wednesday will require sexual predators and offenders to have their status discreetly noted on their drivers' licenses, with a number that will notify police that the person is an offender.

Crist was joined for a signing ceremony by the parents of Adam Arnold, who was 16 when he was killed in Key West in 1996 by a drunken driver who fled the scene. The bill (HB 25) was named for Adam.

Drunken drivers who leave the scene of an accident in which someone dies would have to go to a prison for a minimum of two years under the law.

Other legislation (HB 409) Crist signed will increase penalties for those who are convicted of attempted murder of certain law enforcement officials. The new law makes the minimum sentence more than nine years. It would apply to people convicted of trying to kill police, prison guards, prosecutors or judges.

Crist has made getting tougher on certain criminals a hallmark of the first year of his administration. One of his top priorities this past legislative session was a bill he signed requiring most violent probation violators to be held in jail until a judge determines whether they can be released.

Crist called that legislation the "Anti-Murder Act, " because several high-profile killings have been committed by violent probation violators who weren't sent back to prison for the infraction.

And last week Crist signed Attorney General Bill McCollum's top priority (SB 1004), a measure that would force sexual predators to tell authorities not just where they live in your town, but also their addresses in the virtual world too.

[Last modified June 21, 2007, 07:12:46]