FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 26, 2019

CONTACT: Danielle Alvarez (786) 586-3989

dalvarez@mercuryllc.com

Criminal justice reforms, which both reduce incarceration and improve safety, were advanced in partnership with crime victims

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.

– Today, after the Florida Legislature officially transmitted HB 7125 for consideration by the Governor's office, Florida crime victims from Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice sent a letter to Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida State Legislature, urging the historic criminal justice reform bill be signed into law. Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice also released a new video on the role that crime victims played in passage of the bill. The letter can be found here: http://bit.ly/201907CSSJFloridaLetter The video can be found here: https://youtu.be/MP1YKuKyyGU

In the letter, hundreds of Florida crime victims representing Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice write: “We write to applaud the passage of HB 7125 and urge that it be signed into law. HB 7125 takes the right approach to public safety. The measure contained in HB 7125 represent a new start towards making our state a more safe and just place for all of us. We look forward to standing with you when you sign this bill and take our state one monumental step in the right direction on criminal justice reform.”

Earlier this year, over three hundred crime survivors from across the Sunshine State traveled to Florida's Capitol to advocate for policy changes and continued to work with lawmakers throughout Session.

Florida's 2019 criminal justice reform legislative package now transmitted to the Governor contains many of the criminal justice reform policies that were part of crime victims' agenda, changes which stop cycles of crime and make communities safer. These include improving the probation system by expanding the use of non-prison responses to technical violations of probation rules, reducing barriers to work for Floridians with a past conviction, and removing barriers for crime victims to access victim compensation. Other changes include driver's license suspension reform, modernizing the felony theft threshold, and removing broad requirements for prosecutors to charge juveniles in adult court.