State lawmakers to push own version of criminal justice changes

State Sen. Jeff Brandes speaks to media on the fourth floor of the Capitol (1/23/2019).

Policymakers in Florida will attempt to pass their own version of a recent federal criminal justice overhaul.

State Sen. Jeff Brandes, a St. Petersburg Republican, announced on Wednesday that lawmakers will soon launch a Florida version of the federal First Step Act signed into law last month.

The Florida First Step Act could include measures that would create more diversion opportunities, Brandes told reporters. Related bills could also seek to offer more judicial discretion and opportunities to re-sentence already-incarcerated individuals.  

Brandes early last week filed one of the first components of the First Step Act. The measure (SB 400) would give judges the ability to impose a sentence other than a mandatory minimum for nonviolent drug traffickers who are not involved in a criminal enterprise.

Brandes also has filed legislation (SB 406) that in part would increase the state’s felony-theft threshold to $1,500, up from $300. He said he expects individual pieces of legislation will be filed and later lumped together to create the Florida First Step Act.

As a lawmaker who has routinely championed similar criminal justice reforms, Brandes said there is “greater support” for criminal justice reform this year because the system is more costly.

“The simple truth is we are on an unsustainable path in the criminal justice system as it stands today,” Brandes said. “We can’t afford to stay on this path.”

Asked whether he believed Gov. Ron DeSantis would sign any changes into law, Brandes noted that DeSantis — a former U.S. Representative — backed an early version of the federal First Step Act.