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Bush signs victims rights bill [Jeb stands up for crime victims] (AP)
AP ^ | April 23, 2002 | Jackie Hallifax

Posted on 04/23/2002 7:34:25 AM PDT by summer


Gov. Bush addressing law enforcement officers
and students serving on safety patrol.



Bush signs victim rights bills

Tuesday, April 23, 2002

By JACKIE HALLIFAX, Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE - Battered women won't have to pay $50 to seek protective orders and sexually assaulted children will be able to learn the HIV status of their attackers under bills Gov. Jeb Bush signed into law Monday.

Other legislation the governor signed would make judges either tell crime victims their rights or post those rights on the courtroom doors.


Ashley Aronson, a Tallahassee woman, was one of the victims flanking the governor as he signed the four bills in a Tallahassee courtroom. She said the crime rights measure "will assist victims more than most of you all realize."

Three years ago, Aronson's toddler was the victim of a crime but she wasn't told of any of her rights until two weeks after a defendant was arrested.

"Back in 1999, it would have benefitted me greatly to have these rights posted on the courtroom doors," she said.

The legislation (SB 1974) requires judges to either inform victims of their rights to appear, be notified, seek restitution and make a statement verbally or to post those rights on their courtroom door.

The new law takes effect July 1. Bush called it a "simple idea that ... will have a powerful impact on making sure victims know what their rights are so that they will be treated with the dignity and the respect that they deserve."

Ron Book, a well-known lobbyist from Miami, also spoke Monday. With his 17-year-old daughter at his side, Book said it was important to make sure that HIV results are no longer held private from victims of sexual assaults.

"I want to thank my daughter, who has been such a victim, for coming forward and asking some of my friends ... to help make a difference for those in the future who become victims," Book said.

The legislation, which takes effect July 1, requires courts to order HIV testing of sexual offenders whose victims are children or disabled or elderly persons. It also requires registration of sexual offenders working or attending college.

The domestic violence legislation (SB 716) that Bush signed would waive the $50 filing fee that people seeking protective orders now pay.

"Victims should not have to be paying for their protection," Bush said. "It makes no sense."


The ban on filing fees for protective orders takes effect Oct. 1.

Other provisions of the new law, which take effect in January, create new penalties for people who violate protective orders by going within 500 feet of a victim's home or 100 feet of a victim's car or damaging the victim's property.

Bush also signed a bill (HB 949), which takes effect July 1, to let the state start assessing violent sexual offenders six months before their release for their danger, rather than upon their release.


Under current law, such offenders are detained even after their sentences are served if they are judged to be dangerous.


TOPICS: Extended News; Government; News/Current Events; US: Florida
KEYWORDS: 2ndamendment; crimevictims; fl; florida; jebbush; rights
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Gov Bush has a very impressive record on fighting crime in FL - check out a list of his accomplishments here,
in Making FL a Safer Place.
1 posted on 04/23/2002 7:34:25 AM PDT by summer
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To: Jeb Bush, *Florida
For index.
2 posted on 04/23/2002 7:34:51 AM PDT by summer
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To: summer
I'm proud to have him as my governor. Jeb has provided principled leadership in the fight on crime. His 10-20-life plan completely undercut the gun-grabbing lobby in Florida by attacking gun criminals without confiscating guns from law-abiding citizens.
3 posted on 04/23/2002 7:46:38 AM PDT by Thane_Banquo
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To: Thane_Banquo
bttt
4 posted on 04/23/2002 7:47:18 AM PDT by summer
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To: summer
Whoa! You mean the Republicans want victims to be PROTECTED?? Why the hell isn't the ACLU out protesting this obviously RACIST law??? < /sarcasm>
5 posted on 04/23/2002 7:47:36 AM PDT by Recovering_Democrat
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To: Recovering_Democrat
LOL....crime is an issue that Gov. Bush has a better record on, by far, than anyone running against him. And, it's a very big issue in FL, because many people here remember when FL had a much higher crime rate.
6 posted on 04/23/2002 7:50:21 AM PDT by summer
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To: summer
We can expect the ACLU to come in and challenge this soon.

Of course, no matter what the media spin, people will know FOR SURE how the ACLU feels about crime victims.

7 posted on 04/23/2002 8:11:37 AM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Houmatt
I think what is now happening in France, with people voting for Le Pen, is in some ways a direct result of the increase in crime over there.
8 posted on 04/23/2002 8:19:29 AM PDT by summer
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To: Houmatt
And, by that I mean: voters do care about who will fight crime. If the ACLU should fight any of these new laws, they will be attracting more voters for Gov. Bush.
9 posted on 04/23/2002 8:20:35 AM PDT by summer
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To: summer
And, by that I mean: voters do care about who will fight crime. If the ACLU should fight any of these new laws, they will be attracting more voters for Gov. Bush.

Perhaps, and perhaps not.

I did not see a similar thing happen in New Jersey when the ACLU challenged Megan's Law on behalf of someone who wanted to continue raping and killing kids in anonymity.

10 posted on 04/23/2002 8:50:53 AM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Recovering_Democrat
Sorry. I see "Victim's Rights" as contradictory to the traditional rule of law. The issue in the courtroom becomes not whether the accused is guilty or not, but how much the victim suffered and that somebody has to pay - guilty or not.

It's just another liberal feather in the chief's headdress.

11 posted on 04/23/2002 11:18:06 AM PDT by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Houmatt
"I did not see a similar thing happen in New Jersey when the ACLU challenged Megan's Law on behalf of someone who wanted to continue raping and killing kids in anonymity."

There's no evidence that Megan's Law ever prevented a crime, especially since no child molester would be crazy enough to get within ten miles of a property posted as the home of a ... well... child molester. What Megan's Law did accomplish is a couple of vigilante actions where people where brutally beaten in cases of mistaken identity or guilt by association, as in an innocent parent or sibling of a child molester. Again, it comes down to "victim's rights" running counter to true criminal justice.

12 posted on 04/23/2002 11:23:40 AM PDT by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Harrison Bergeron
There's no evidence that Megan's Law ever prevented a crime, especially since no child molester would be crazy enough to get within ten miles of a property posted as the home of a ... well... child molester.

I fail to see the logic of this sentence. You are almost making it sound like people post signs like "a child molester lives here" at random. This, of course, is false.

See, it all comes down to whether it is more important to keep our kids safe from sexual predators or allowing said predators to roam the countryside raping children again and again in complete anonymity. The answer should be rather obvious.

That is why we need something like Megan's Law, and why it works. Every parent, everywhere has the absolute right to know who the predators are and where they live. This is something that should not even be debated.

And I am sorry, but I just cannot feel compassion for the pedophile whose car is blown up, or home set on fire, or is otherwise run out of town because a neighborhood is armed with such knowledge.

13 posted on 04/23/2002 3:56:21 PM PDT by Houmatt
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To: Harrison Bergeron;summer
Sorry. I see "Victim's Rights" as contradictory to the traditional rule of law.

I think that's the idea. As great as our system of law is, I think the Founders failed to realize that some people might not want the guilty to be found guilty. The law goes out of its way to protect the falsely accused. These protections are manipulated so well by the guilty and their lawyers thet the correctly accused walk free. Meanwhile, the victim is victimized again. What is wrong with a victim knowing the HIV status of an attacker? And why only minors and old people? That makes no sense to me.

14 posted on 04/23/2002 4:08:21 PM PDT by Samwise
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To: Samwise
And why only minors and old people? That makes no sense to me.

I wondered about that too. Maybe there is already some other provision in place, though I just guessing here.
15 posted on 04/23/2002 4:22:27 PM PDT by summer
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To: Houmatt
That is why we need something like Megan's Law, and why it works. Every parent, everywhere has the absolute right to know who the predators are and where they live.

I agree.
16 posted on 04/23/2002 4:24:11 PM PDT by summer
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To: BigWaveBetty; not-alone...
FYI.
17 posted on 04/23/2002 5:28:59 PM PDT by summer
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To: summer
GO JEB!!
18 posted on 04/23/2002 6:55:18 PM PDT by mafree
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To: Houmatt
"And I am sorry, but I just cannot feel compassion for the pedophile whose car is blown up, or home set on fire, or is otherwise run out of town because a neighborhood is armed with such knowledge."

Well, generally, the only address a convict can give to the judge before he gets out of prison is that of the next of kin. Meanwhile, the pervert holes up somewhere else - usually neareby - when he gets out, and Grammas porch gets set ablaze, dad get's beaten with a baseball bat, or mom's kitty gets hung from a lamp post.

Those are the documented results of Megan's Law. If that's your brand of justice, you're no conservative.

19 posted on 04/24/2002 10:49:03 AM PDT by Harrison Bergeron
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To: Harrison Bergeron
Well, generally, the only address a convict can give to the judge before he gets out of prison is that of the next of kin. Meanwhile, the pervert holes up somewhere else - usually neareby - when he gets out, and Grammas porch gets set ablaze, dad get's beaten with a baseball bat, or mom's kitty gets hung from a lamp post.

Those are the documented results of Megan's Law.

Really? Then put your money where your mouth is, and provide citiations, with URL's so I can see these things for myself.

And it sounds to me you would much rather have convicted child molesters walking the streets in anonymity, where they can continue to harm kids. If that is your brand of justice, I would not be so quick to call yourself a conservative, either, if you do.

20 posted on 04/24/2002 3:34:15 PM PDT by Houmatt
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