Florida Gov. DeSantis signs new crime laws in Winter Haven

[00:00:00][applause] >> Well, we are back in Central Florida.

[00:00:04]It's great to be in Polk County.

[00:00:06]I want to thank Winter Haven PD for hosting us. We're joined by a really all-star cast of folks, particularly from a law enforcement perspective, starting with our Attorney General James Uthmeier, Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass, DBPR Secretary Melanie Griffin, we have Representatives Plakon, Bankson, and Albert Winter Haven, of course, Police Chief Vance Monroe, we have Winter Haven Mayor Brian Yates, Daytona Beach Police Chief Young, members of Winter Haven City Commission, and Peggy Rayner, mother of Officer Jason Rayner, and you'll hear a little bit about why we're doing what we're doing.

[00:00:49]I know people in Polk County know we're a law and order state because I've done a lot of stuff with Grady over the years, and we we take pride in upholding the rule of law and having safe communities, and it's made a big difference in the lives of many, many people to be able to have strong public safety and to be able to raise their kids or or to retire in a safe environment. And the way you do that is to have very strong policies at the state level that put the criminal on the defensive and support victims and law-abiding citizens. And if you don't have that, then it just doesn't work. Now, if you have that, you still need folks to actually implement that on the local level, and we have that in Florida. We have, I think, the best law enforcement in the country from police departments to sheriff's departments, and they're doing the the the good work every day, and we're proud to have their back. I'm proud to have their back financially cuz we've given a lot of money over the years, but more, I think even more so, having strong policies. I mean imagine if we had policies in Florida like they have in places like California where they release felons early.

[00:02:05]Uh you think that they're just going to start becoming choir boys? Not usually.

[00:02:08]Like it can happen. Don't get me wrong.

[00:02:10]And I I love a re-redemption arc. I love reha- But when you have some of these people that are career criminals, they are going to reoffend. And so you have to keep them off the street and make them serve their entire sentence. Uh when you have situations where your people out of jail uh with with no cash bail and letting them just go right back on the street like they do in some of these other states.

[00:02:34]It's been disastrous. I mean even here in Florida, we had a situation where you had a guy get convicted of trying to solicit trying to travel to meet some minor that he was going to abuse and convicted and the judge let him go home until his sentencing happened. And then he ended up murdering this 5-year-old girl. So this stuff is just it's it's you got to have the right frame of mind.

[00:02:58]So we're we're proud to have had those good policies. Now, I've seen a little bit of discussion about some of the stuff that happens in some of these areas.

[00:03:08]There's a couple spots around Florida, you know, where you have some of these youth that are out there and they're saying that they're teen takeovers and they just take over certain areas. I just want to be very clear.

[00:03:22]We do not recognize any teen takeover.

[00:03:25]If you try that, you are doing that at your peril. And if the local officials are not holding you accountable, I'll put somebody in there who will hold you accountable. We are not going to let the inmates run the asylum in the free state of Florida.

[00:03:40]Now, today we have a number of bills and we've we've done a we've done a lot and sometimes it's like hard to even find because, you know, we've been there, done that. I mean there are other states that are trying to do what we did four or five years ago on on issues related to law and order and other things, too. I mean, I hear talk about we've got to keep boys out of girls sports and like I agree with that. We did that five or six years ago in Florida and they're still fighting that, you know, at the federal level and other parts and so we're we're usually ahead of the curve on all this stuff, but we want to keep the momentum going. So, we've got a number of pieces of legislation here that I'm going to be signing. So, I'll go over really quickly some of them and then we'll we'll have some speakers and then I'll sign them and we'll make it official. So, Senate Bill 432, it's trafficking penalties for and I don't know zay- xylazine.

[00:04:34]I've I've never been able to pronounce that. They call it tranq, a dangerous drug that is increasingly being mixed with illicit narcotics.

[00:04:42]The bill targets criminals who package and market dangerous substances in ways designed to attract young people. In addition, the legislation addresses the growing misuse of nitrous oxide through provisions known as Meg's Law named in honor of Meg Caldwell. This measure recognizes a young Florida woman whose life was tragically cut short after struggling with nitrous oxide addiction addiction. So, we've led the nation in taking decisive action against emerging drug threats and we're continuing to do that with this bill today. I'm also proud to sign Senate Bill 1332.

[00:05:20]This strengthens Florida's career offender registration act, provides law enforcement better tools to monitor some of the most serious repeat offenders in our state. And as I alluded to earlier, you have some people that will simply re-offend. It's just the nature. You have some people that that learn their lesson. We see them on the on the pardons. They come up to the clemency board and they get convicted of something when they're 20 and then they come at 55 and have had a good life and have been law-abiding, so then they ask to get that off their record. And so, sometimes we do that, and that's appropriate. But But that is not always the case, and indeed maybe not even usually the case. So, right now career offenders Well, now, because of this legislation, career offenders will be required to register in person with their local sheriff's office and provide more comprehensive identifying information.

[00:06:13]They got to report changes to their residence, employment, vehicles, phone numbers, and complete annual in-person registration. This will improve coordination between local law enforcement, our state agencies, including our Department of Corrections to make sure that this offender information is accurate, and it also increases accountability for offenders who fail to comply with these requirements. I'm also proud to sign House Bill 429, legislation modernizing Florida's criminal gang statutes by expanding the criteria that can be used to establish gang involvement. You know, some of the I signed the bill >> [clears throat] >> the the anti-Sharia bill earlier this year that allows law enforcement to to identify, and then we can ratify, I think Governor and Cabinet, designated terror organizations. And so, you have some of these like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council of American Islamic Relations, like that, no doubt, right? But you also have like Trend Micro that that should be categorized as a as a designated, we will be doing that after July 1st, when that legislation takes effect. So, so gang violence and gang activity is a scourge, and it's something that we need to use all the resources we have to crack down on. So, this bill recognizes online admissions of gang affiliation, gang-related social media activity, identification by criminal gangs themselves, and other modern indicators of gang participation. It's basically updating the law to reflect the reality of how you would prove that um in this digital information age. The legislation helps ensure that the these enhanced penalties can be applied when the evidence demonstrates this active gang involvement. I'm also signing Senate Bill 156, the Officer Jason Raynor Act. The legislation honors the memory of Officer Jason Raynor, a Daytona Beach police officer who made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty while serving his community. The legislation strengthens protections for law enforcement officers, and ensures those who attack, injure, or kill officers face serious consequences. This bill makes clear that individuals cannot use force to resist officers who are acting in good faith while carrying out their duties. Disagreements about an arrest should be settled in a courtroom, not through violence on the street. The bill also strengthens penalties for violent crimes committed against law enforcement officers, including increasing consequences for battery on an officer, enhancing penalties for those who violently resist arrest. In addition, this legislation ensures individuals convicted of manslaughter against law enforcement officers and other specified public safety personnel face the toughest penalties available under Florida law. The message we send with this bill is simple. If you attack a law enforcement officer in the state of Florida, prepare to be held accountable. Finally, I'm proud to sign Senate Bill 436, legislation strengthening Florida's law by ensuring repeat violent offenders face tougher consequences for their action. Right now, a second battery offense can be elevated to a felony if the offender has certain prior battery-related convictions. This bill adds a prior conviction for resisting an officer with violence to that list of pre-existing offenses. And so now those individuals will be held accountable in a more significant way.

[00:09:48]So I want to thank the members of the legislature who continue to put the pedal to the metal on this. You know, when I first became governor and then Grady will tell you the story about this, the discussion in the legislature was about eliminating Florida's truth in sentencing requirements, letting people out early, not even having to serve their full sentence and it would have been more akin to states like California and Illinois and New York than what we've come to be known as Florida. And I obviously opposed that and we nipped that in the bud as well as other things that were under discussion at that time.

[00:10:22]Now, I think people know like that's not even something you want to be discussing. I mean certainly you know, with me as governor cuz I will stop it if it did, but the conversation has changed dramatically over the last 7 years.

[00:10:36]There's no question about that. The momentum is real and I think these bills are proof positive of that. So we'll hear from some of our speakers, then we will make it official and and do the photos with that. Okay, so we'll start with the AG, then Commissioner Glass.

[00:10:55]>> Good morning everybody. Thank you Governor. It's an honor to be here to fight for Florida's families and and to lead our state law enforcement. I got to tell you when I took this job a year and a half ago, I was a little bit nervous cuz we're at record crime lows. So if it ticks up, you know, even a percent, you know, I'm I'm not doing my job. But we worked hard. We have increased our statewide prosecutions by over 50%.

[00:11:19]We've secured 30% more convictions than the year before, over 40% more human trafficking convictions. We've arrested a record more than 1,700 child predators and we are putting bad guys away like never before.

[00:11:35]I want to thank the Raynor family for being here. Uh one of the bills today is uh dedicated to Jason Raynor, who was killed in the line of duty, a Daytona Beach police officer, and um his legacy will live on through these pro-law order policies. Uh here in Florida, if you lay a finger on a police officer, you're going away for a long time. If you are a child predator and you're coming after our kids, you're going away for a long time. And where eligible, we will seek the death penalty. Uh so, we're going to fight every day to put bad guys away, make this the safest state to raise a family, and I'm honored to do it. Thank you.

[00:12:13]>> Mark.

[00:12:17]Thank you, Governor. Thank you, Attorney General. Thank you, everybody here and legislators. I just want to say thank you for what what a great package of criminal justice bills that y'all put through this year. So, thank you so much for the hard work you did there. And thank you for you got everybody here attending.

[00:12:33]The Raynor family, my heart and love goes out to you and your and your family members on that. It affects us all. So, you heard the Governor talk about the different bills, Senate bills, and House bills that had went through this year.

[00:12:45]The Raynor family is an example of a reform that was needed that the House that the House did what they needed to do to enhance penalties on people who try to take violent assault on our law enforcement officers. As a law enforcement officer being out there, and to include Senate Bill 436, which is felony battery, I can't tell you how many times I've arrested somebody, Chief, you know this, arrested somebody and they had this on the record over and over. A battery on LEO, battery on LEO, battery on LEO, but these people continue to keep getting out of jail or through the justice system, and they're keep getting out, and it's just terrible that you're putting your life on the line every time you're having to deal with these folks.

[00:13:25]So, these bills that you're seeing that the governor will be signing today is going to help that local officer, that deputy, that trooper, that special agent, that detective that's out there to do their job efficiently, effectively, and safely, and come home to their family. So, I just want to say thank you for all that.

[00:13:42]Gangs on social media, parents, if you're not paying attention to social media what your kids are doing out there, you need to be. Because if they're out there doing their little walk and doing all their other little things they do on Tik Tok and all that stuff trying to look hard and everything and do their Facebook stuff or I'm dating myself a Facebook, whatever the new one is.

[00:14:00]Oh, the so I'll just say social media, it's easier that way. But, if they're doing that and then uh little Johnny goes out and commits a crime, well, my cyber team, along with the attorney general state wide prosecutor team, we will go after them and they will be labeled as such when they go in jail or prison. Now, remember this, little Johnny, if you do that and you're not a member of that gang and you go into prison, it ain't going to go well for you in prison, I'm sure, when that real gang is in there finding out that you're in there trying to be one of them. So, just remember that, parents, pay attention to that.

[00:14:28]Career offender registration, been trying to push this for the last couple of years. The governor's office really helped push this through and then we have some really great legislators on that one and I want to say thank you for that to get that through. Basically, giving the law enforcement officer on the street being able to look at the ID and say it see that the person is a career offender. Career offender is not little Johnny going to steal a candy bar at the junior food store.

[00:14:52]Career offender is the ones that have been deemed by the court to continuously keep coming through here and these are your violent ones. These are the ones that try to affect your uh crime rate in your city. And these are the ones we want to pay attention to. So, by that officer just looking at the driver's license or the ID card and that marking is on there, they already know who they're dealing with without even having to run the name. That's just something that is a very good thing that we have and as citizens you you'll you'll uh reap the benefits from that one.

[00:15:18]Meg's Law, it's a tragedy.

[00:15:22]It's a tragedy that we still have a lot of different things that are abuse in our in our country, in our state.

[00:15:27]However, I will say with the public safety reforms, the public safety stuff that we're doing here in our great state, the state of Florida, the free state of Florida, is not only going after the drug dealers and the pushers, but also there is other means and things that are out there for the victims that that are fallen prey to these these folks that are receiving this type of drugs. Addiction is real. It affects all our families and we should be paying attention to that in our families and there is a lot of help out there. So, if you do not know where to get the help, please just reach out your local community. The state has plenty of websites on there, the DCF, FDLE, places we can help point you to the right place to get help. Uh the first lady has the facts your future. You take a look at that as parents. It's a good way to arm yourself with information to help have victims in your family. With that, I just want to say as the commissioner of FDLE, it has been a blessing and it's still a blessing to fight for truth, try fight for securing the free state of Florida, and it's so much easier to do it with the leadership that I have here and thank you Governor for your leadership on this.

[00:16:34]>> Good morning and thank you Governor for your leadership in making the steadfast commitment to keep Florida families and communities safe. At DBPR, our mission is to ensure that the industries we regulate operate lawfully, responsibly, and in a manner that protects the public. Through our Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco, we oversee thousands of licensed tobacco and nicotine retailers across the state and we work closely with local, state, and federal partners to ensure compliance with Florida law. And today marks another important step forward in public safety as we transition to talking about the signing of Senate Bill 432 into law. The Governor is strengthening Florida's efforts to protect young people, support families, and hold accountable the bad actors who profit from the misuse of dangerous substances.

[00:17:16]In particular, an important piece of this legislation is Meg's Law, and you've heard a little bit about her.

[00:17:21]Back in October, our law enforcement team, that's the second oldest in the state, conducted its largest felony operation making over 80 felony arrests in one week to prevent the sale of nitrous oxide to minors. Through that operation, we led to hearing about the story of Meg Caldwell, thanks to Representative Plakon and others, who, as the governor said, became addicted to nitrous oxide and eventually lost the use of her legs and then her life to this addiction.

[00:17:49]Unfortunately, her story is not unique, and we really appreciate her family, especially Kathleen Caldwell, who could not unfortunately be here today, but who shared the story and was extremely persistent in making sure that legislation like this was passed so that this dangerous substance cannot get into the hands of minors. And in particular, Governor, she asked us to tell you how grateful she is for your leadership on this important mission.

[00:18:12]Under the governor's leadership, the department turned our enforcement operation and the story of Meg's death and others into tangible policy. Less than a year later, we stand here as the governor signs and enacts that legislation. It highlights the true impact that advocacy and a commitment to public safety can make here in Florida.

[00:18:32]Specifically, the provisions of the bill known as Meg's Law make it a felony for gas stations, convenience stores, and vape shops to sell nitrous oxide. We know that that is the place that minors most often go to get the sale of these recreational products that are extremely harmful to their bodies, and this will be a huge step forward in making sure that those minors remain safe.

[00:18:52]There is targeted approach to focus on high-risk retail environments where access that is contributed to misuse, particularly among young people, is now prohibited. And it closes an entry point that has enabled recreational misuse and places clear responsibility on retailers operating under Florida-issued licenses.

[00:19:09]With that, we want to thank the governor for his leadership and unwavering commitment to protecting Florida families, and in particular Senator Yarborough and Representative Plakon, as well as other members of the Florida legislature who are here today, including Representative Bankston and Albert, for their support in enacting this measure.

[00:19:25]I'm also grateful for our law enforcement partners, including the DBPR team, the Sheriff's Association, public safety professionals, Chief Minogue, who is here today, and many stakeholders who worked alongside us throughout this process. And most importantly, again, want to extend a special thank you to Kathleen Dial and the entire Caldwell family. Through your courage, persistence, and willingness to share your story, and we know you're watching here today, you truly helped bring attention to the dangers of nitrous oxide misuse and the need for meaningful action to address this problem. Meg's legacy is reflected in this law, and we are grateful to the Caldwell family for their dedication to protecting others.

[00:20:00]Again, thank you, governor, for your leadership, and we're excited to see you sign SB 432 today. Thank you.

[00:20:07]>> [applause] >> Good morning, everyone.

[00:20:13]I'm uh extremely excited that everyone is here to see me today.

[00:20:23]Okay.

[00:20:25]>> [laughter] >> Couldn't resist it. Couldn't resist it.

[00:20:28]Um governor, members of the legislature, our law enforcement partners, and everyone here today, thank you for allowing me to be a part of this important moment.

[00:20:37]Senate Bill 156 and Senate Bill 436 sends a clear message.

[00:20:42]Violence against law enforcement officers will be taken seriously.

[00:20:46]And those who repeatedly choose violence will be held accountable.

[00:20:51]The Officer Jason Riner Act recognizes the reality our officers face every day.

[00:20:56]An arrest or detention can be challenged through the legal system, but it should never never be challenged through violence on the street.

[00:21:06]When an officer is clearly identifiable and acting in good faith while performing official duties, a person cannot justify using a threatening force simply because the arrest or detention is disputed.

[00:21:20]That clarity helps protect officers, the people they are taking into custody, and everyone nearby.

[00:21:28]Senate Bill 156 also strengthens consequences for serious offenses committed against officers. It recognizes the severity of manslaughter when the victim is an officer performing official duties, and it increases the sentencing weight assigned to the battery [snorts] on a law enforcement officer.

[00:21:43]Those changes reflect something every police chief knows.

[00:21:48]An assault on an officer rarely affects only that officer.

[00:21:52]It can place other officers, bystanders, and the entire community in danger.

[00:21:58]Senate Bill 436 builds on the same principle of accountability.

[00:22:03]It recognizes that a prior conviction for resisting an officer with violence should be considered when that person later commits another battery. It also provides stronger sentencing consequences in qualifying cases, such as when a reoffender batters a law enforcement officer and continues bodily injury and causes bodily injury.

[00:22:23]Our officers understand that risk comes with this profession.

[00:22:26]They willingly step into situations most people are trying to get away from.

[00:22:31]But accepting that responsibility does not mean accepting violence against them as a simply a part of the job.

[00:22:39]These bills are not about placing of officers above the law.

[00:22:43]They're about making it clear that the disagreements are resolved through the courts, not through violence, and that repeated violent conduct should bring serious consequences.

[00:22:52]On behalf of the Winter Haven Police Department and other agencies throughout Florida, thank you for standing with the the and women who protect our communities and for strengthening accountability when they are threatened, attacked, or injured in the line of duty.

[00:23:08]Thank you very much.

[00:23:10]>> [applause] >> All right. You guys want to come up here? We'll uh We'll make this official.

[00:23:19]Career offender felony criminal offenses against law gang membership Okay.

[00:23:38]All right. This is the intoxicating substances.

[00:23:44]Today's date is what?

[00:23:46]16?

[00:24:00]All right.

[00:24:01]Um gang membership Okay.

[00:24:16]dose All right.

[00:24:19]Uh criminal offenses against law enforcement uh Senate Bill 156 already that one felony battery Okay.

[00:24:54]Career offender registration Okay.

[00:25:06]Fends.

[00:25:09]Why don't you guys [clears throat] get over Why don't you guys get up here for a sec, too?

[00:25:15]Anyone else? Did you get one?

[00:25:18]Okay.

[00:25:19]Okay.

[00:25:20]I got more.

[00:25:23]Anyone else?

[00:25:24]>> Two over here.

[00:25:27]>> Anyone else? All right. All right, now.

[00:25:30]Why don't you guys hold that one up?

[00:25:33]Um someone want to hold maybe hold this one up for us?

[00:25:37]Um I'll do these two and then I need one more help. So, hold on. We're going to ask you We're going to be on candid camera here in 1 second.

[00:25:45]Just got to get this going here.

[00:25:47]Okay.

[00:25:48]All right. Ready? Here we go.

[00:25:51]Cheese.

[00:25:58]>> I got it. I got it.

[00:26:05]>> All right. Good job, guys.

[00:26:08]There we go.

[00:26:10]>> [applause] >> All right. Thanks, everybody. All right, I'll get up here and navigate a few a few questions.

[00:26:38]Well, good work, guys. I'm excited we were able to do that. I do have there is some legislation still outstanding, so I'll be processing that over the next couple weeks and we'll also process the budget and sign the budget over the next couple weeks.

[00:26:52]So, we've got um you know, like I said, we've got uh this is the third year current year third year where we've actually spent less than the year before.

[00:27:01]Uh this budget uh I'm going to have to pare back a little bit to make sure that's 4 years in a row. But, show me somewhere else in this country where a state is actually reduced its budget 4 years in a row. And that's just nominal dollars. That's not even adjusting for inflation. It'd be more dramatic if you adjusted for inflation. And it'd be more dramatic if you adjusted for population.

[00:27:22]We're not even doing that. We're just We're just saying, "Hey, here's what it was 23 24." Then it went down, down, and then it's going to go down a little bit more again. And that And what that's doing is just showing you it can be done. We're still doing big things. I mean, man, we've got uh Everglades restoration, unbelievable. I've got uh moving Florida forward. I mean, some of you in Polk County, you've seen the I-4 just our temporary lane that we've put there. I mean, I have people come to me like and say, "Thank you. It's made a difference." Right? And that's not an easy area to deal with. And so, it's even going to be better with But, we've accelerated all that by years and years uh so that we can avoid having people wait in traffic for another 10 years until the projects were scheduled to start. That includes Champions Gate area, too. Disaster, right? And so, we've got got that we've been doing We've been doing things on education that's been really big. And in fact, that this budget that I that I'll be signing uh has uh the most we've ever done for our teacher salary categorical I think it's about 1.56 billion.

[00:28:22]Um we started that wasn't even in the budget when I started. And then we did like a few hundred million. I was like, "Oh my gosh." And then we got it up to half a billion. Then it hit a billion.

[00:28:31]And then now you're doing that. So, that's going to make a big difference.

[00:28:34]So, there's a lot of things we've been doing that have been really, really big.

[00:28:38]But, at the same time, we're doing it within the context of a very stable budget and and actually declining budget. And the reason And then our rainy day fund when I became governor till now, we've quadrupled it. And uh we've actually maxed it out. You can't even put any more money into it constitutionally. And that's preparing for, you know, who knows what happens in in a year, two, three, four years. The state is going to be in really good shape to be able to respond to that. And um and and and it's really really good.

[00:29:04]We also put out, we did a we did a meeting last week with our cabinet, and we have a division of bond finance, which we tasked with accelerating the repayment of Florida state debt. And so we've been able to do We actually now have a debt clock. So like in like Times Square, they would have national debt always counting up. Florida, it goes like from when I, you know, when I came in 7 years ago, it counts down. Down a lot actually, 50 50% down uh for the total debt for, you know, from the 1840s until the present. We knocked out uh we knocked out 50% of it.

[00:29:42]And so so it shows you that can be done as well. And that's a really really good story. So uh we will be bringing that all in for a landing over the next uh couple weeks. And um we will be uh acting on the terror designations uh on July 1st, right after that, which I think is going to be really really significant. And I know both of you guys are going to need to be involved um in making sure that that sticks and that that is something that uh uh that is protecting the people for Okay, do we got any questions back there? Yes.

[00:30:10]>> Uh we have seen law enforcement release criminals after a judge has made a ruling.

[00:30:15]That is the state doing anything because somebody else would be paying their life >> So you're saying I I just want to make sure I understand your question. You're saying law enforcement are letting people go who are dangerous?

[00:30:28]>> The judges are making the ruling.

[00:30:29]>> The judges Oh, yeah. Oh, don't even get me started on these judges.

[00:30:34]Um Well, first of all, and and I think the AG's been vocal on this. You know, I told the story about the had a judge in Tallahassee.

[00:30:43]This guy had been convicted of soliciting a minor and and and and and convicted, right?

[00:30:51]And so, the sentencing sometimes doesn't happen right after that or usually doesn't. You know, actually, you know, in the military, they just do it right away. Uh I think that's a better system, but it is what it is. And so, normally, if you're convicted of a serious offense, then you get remanded to custody because you are going to get jail time. So, that counts towards your sentence. It isn't like like you're just being held without You've been convicted. You get remanded. You show up for sentencing. You serve your sentence.

[00:31:17]And then, whatever you served in the interim, obviously, counts towards that.

[00:31:19]That That's what most people would would do.

[00:31:22]Well, this judge let the convict go home pending sentencing. And that's when he murdered this 5-year-old stepdaughter.

[00:31:33]And so, that was an avoidable murder uh if the judge just would have would have remanded to custody. So, you know, I've asked We have authority to deal with this in our in our constitutional system. The Florida House of Representatives has the authority to impeach judges who disregard the law or put people at risk like this. And um and the Attorney General's called for this. I've said you need to do it. And have they done it?

[00:32:01]No. They're They're They're ratifying that decision through their inaction.

[00:32:07]So, there are things that can be done in the political system. Uh a lot of these judges are also at the state level up for election. And so, that could be something that that voters can do. Well, the voters don't know who the judges are. I mean, that's just the reality, right? I mean, it's just not something You see these names on the ballot and it's hard. So, you got to There's There's media and resources that need to go into all of that. But I think any judge that lets a convict out should then be responsible for the convict's future criminal activity pending sentencing.

[00:32:39]So, we actually passed a law to deal with this. It's sad that we had to do that. I think we may Now, we may have been I may maybe Hillsborough or We were somewhere in Central Florida when we signed that. But, it it's um it really is frustrating. And the federal judges, some of them are the worst of all of them because what happens is they get appointed uh after you know, they get they have they get nominated, the Senate confirms, and then the president can can finish the appointment. And they have life tenure.

[00:33:08]So, like basically, I mean, good behavior is what the founders called it. And there was a reason why the founders wanted that because you want to be independent.

[00:33:16]You don't want to just a a judge has got to apply the law. And if your rights are at stake, it may not be popular to uphold your rights, but you want a judge that's going to do that. That's the only time protections for rights matter is when it's unpopular. When it's popular, the political system will just take care of it. But, you need to have So, so having the judges insulated from public opinion uh will allow them kind of have the fortitude to do that in theory. And sometimes in practice, that's been the case. But, I think what also's just happened is you have some of these judges, they get on the bench, and they have a very serious political agenda.

[00:33:51]They don't believe in holding criminals accountable even when the Congress or legislators pass uh tough on crime, they will try to find a way to always advantage the criminal at the expense of the law-abiding citizens and the victims. And that's a tougher nut to crack because of this life tenure. Now, the founders um provided really two mechanisms for federal judges. One is Congress can circumscribe their jurisdiction through statute. Uh I don't I hear a lot of these congressmen chirping about these judges. I don't actually see them legislating the appropriate checks and balances as our founding fathers envisioned. Uh then you also have the ability to impeach federal judges uh and that's high crimes and misdemeanors, but you tell me if you're uh letting people out to go on crime sprees, uh is that a misdemeanor at least? I mean, like you do misdemeanors, you kind of, you know, run a stoplight, right? I mean, so I think that just isn't a power that they've really used over the years. And so, what ends up happening is a lot of times these judges can cause great harm and and don't have adequate accountability.

[00:35:03]So, in Florida, the the checks and balances are vote them out at the circuit if you're you're a circuit trial judge, or if you do something totally egregious like what happened with this judge leading to the death of the the young young girl, then you have the ability, you know, to impeach, but this was not something that the that the house uh was was was interested in doing. And I think it's a disappointment. I think a lot of people uh want to see accountability.

[00:35:29]And guess what?

[00:35:31]The minute you have accountability, the behavior improves.

[00:35:35]The minute people know they can be held accountable, the behavior improves. I mean, we saw that. I remember when I when I first got elected, we had some unfinished business. You had the uh the year before I got elected, they had the Parkland massacre down there. No one held accountable. Derelict sheriff, no one did anything. Then you had an election where Palm Beach and Broward were were pulling shenanigans. And I guess I'm sick of this. Sick of this.

[00:36:00]So, we came in, we removed the sheriff of Broward.

[00:36:04]Uh we removed the supervisors. And guess what? People got the message that this was something that that they needed to do their jobs and and not uh neglect their duties. I mean, I remember we removed some of the Soros-backed prosecutors. Big problems. Honestly, it affected Polk, even though that's not your prosecutor, cuz you had them on either side of you in these judicial circuits. and we did that. And it got to the point once we started doing that, I'd show up in some place, and like the the the state attorneys were reaching out to our office. Oh, no, don't I don't want to be removed. God, and I wasn't going to remove. I was just going, but people thought, okay. So so it was but it just accountability, if you do it, then it does make a difference beyond that. And right now, I just think we've had a lack of accountability. We we responded with the legislation on release these dangerous people prior to sentencing, which is unfortunate you'd even need to do that, but well, we did do it. But ultimately, the public should just not tolerate this. Now, I would never appoint a judge, because when there's vacancies, I appoint them. But when there's not a vacancy, there's a schedule of elections. So these folks will stand before before the voters, and and I think if they're making these decisions, they need to be held accountable by the voters.

[00:37:41]While I let James talk about the waiting period, because I know he's led that. But on the on the ballot summary, it's um not only is it not misleading, the legislature tweaked the statute to allow a little bit more information on the ballot summary. Because what happens is, you limit it to a certain amount of words. On the one hand, you know, you don't want to read war and peace on your ballot, right? I mean, like I get that.

[00:38:05]But on the other hand, some of the things that are done, you know, some of this stuff can be complicated. And and I I would rather this not be done through the constitution, but that's the way Florida has has has allocated the power with respect to tax and property. So you have to lay out the different things that are going to be accomplished by doing it so people have that. Now, my proposal was better than what the legislature put on the ballot. My proposal included a So, it'd be on the ballot, but then we had a proposal that every homeowner would get a notice in October that would provide you with the amount of savings that you would have if if the amendment passed. The legislature didn't want to include that.

[00:38:51]And so, I think a lot of people, you know, they're going to be told this and that and everything like that.

[00:38:56]Getting right there, this is what this is it, all the smoke, here's what you would get, I think would have been really really good. But but I and I I don't know exactly how they tweaked it from from my proposal. I can tell you what we did was very straightforward. It was good. It did a lot of important things and I think was the best way to give relief for people who are having trouble making ends meet because groceries cost more, all this stuff cost more compared to where we were certainly before COVID. But then just how much that response really fueled the inflation in in many over many many years.

[00:39:30]So, so I think that I think it's valid, but but obviously that's going to be what I'd say is we need to get the we need to get a resolution on this pretty quickly cuz they are going to have to print ballots probably sometime in August for the general election. So, this is not something where the litigation can really drag out. We're going to go I think we'll win at the trial court, but if you don't, then you got to go and do a quick appeal. And if somehow you lose on that, then you're going to have to you're going to have to tweak I think they say the attorney general writes the language.

[00:39:59]So, and I would say some of these, you know, big government advocates, be be careful what you wish for. All right, go ahead, you want to.

[00:40:07]>> Yeah, so on on the three-day waiting period, you know, there's been a recent United States Supreme Court case, the Bruen case, that provided clarity on how the Second Amendment is analyzed at the federal level and the court there held that there must be an analog to the time of the founding where restrictions on the right to to possess weapons it has to go back to the time of the founding.

[00:40:30]So here in Florida we're not going to violate the Second Amendment. These are important rights. The founders put it number two I think for good reason.

[00:40:39]We've had open carry become the law of the land here in the state and and we're now taking the position that the three-day waiting period is unconstitutional. And let me clarify this is not the background check.

[00:40:50]There's still a background check that can that can be done on people but telling somebody when you know that background check can be done pretty much instantaneously that you got to sit here and wait three days you know to exercise your Second Amendment rights and protect yourself is is wrong and unconstitutional. Thanks.

[00:41:08]>> Okay.

[00:41:09]Anybody else?

[00:41:18]>> No, I like I told you I have been said this many times you know we set it up as an assist for the federal government who didn't have the wherewithal to be able to stage and house and stage illegal aliens prior to deportation. And so we have done that I think it's been 22 23 24,000 maybe 25,000 who would have been released in the Florida communities but instead were were processed and and deported from from there and there's no question that that saved lives. No question that that's been good for public safety. No question that that relieved burdens on taxpayers whether it's schooling medical care all these other things and but I said at the time we're only doing this because the the agency had been neutered under Biden.

[00:42:09]They didn't have the ability to to do this in Florida for whatever reason had very few detention spaces for for for DHS to do this.

[00:42:18]But I said they are going to get money, they're going to do this, and they're going to be able to handle this at some point. So, for us, it's we've never the state doesn't direct people there, it's DHS that directs them there. And so, if DHS stops directing them there, then we obviously are not just going to it was never meant to be permanent, and so we won't do that. Um I don't think that that um that that it's empty now, at least as of yesterday when I got briefed on it. Uh but they've had tens, hundreds of billions of dollars plowed into that agency. I mean, I'm insanely ungodly amount of money plowed into that agency.

[00:42:55]So, I hope that they're going to be able uh to handle this. So, our role is still going to be top in the nation. We have to all state and local agencies cooperate with DHS. Uh you work, I mean, if our highway patrol pulls over someone driving drunk who's an illegal alien, they are going to turn them over to DHS. Uh but then once that happens, if they have the wherewithal to be able to do that and process it and enforce the law and repatriate them their home countries without us having to even though we're getting reimbursed by the feds for doing it, without us having to be doing that, great. Uh that that's that's how it should be. Uh I wish that that's how it was uh during the four years of Biden, but it wasn't, and so we had a lot of problems. So, so I think that that would be good. So, we'll um we'll make those decisions about uh whether there's detainees coming or not, and if they have other ways to do it, which look, there have been discussions about they have wherewithal, they have strategies where they can handle this in different locations, great. Uh and I know there were some strategies with the former secretary, maybe some different ones with the new one, but the The line is they have the resources, they have the capability now to be able to execute this mission on the detention space. And so, if that's the case, we'll do, but we were never going to make that a permanent facility.

[00:44:17]I mean, it's actually a pretty neat airstrip. It's right there. It's in the middle of nowhere. I mean, the most secure place you could possibly be for this. And and I think it was very convenient to be able to do that. Now, we had to do a lot logistically to make that happen. And uh I think our guys did a very good job on that. But but that It's been It's served a huge huge purpose when you have 20-some thousand that otherwise would have been released.

[00:44:42]And just think about it. I mean, DHS also does their own thing. It's not like this is the only thing that that's going on. And I always hear from people like, you know, you guys are doing all this, you know, how how do you do more? How do you do this? And and I'm ultimately having more federal resources so that they can execute this mission is something that's really really important. But but we're we're better off when when the rule of law prevails. And we just We've been I mean, not just this, right? I mean, we we we did the straight the Florida Straits, we did the the coastal interdictions under Biden. We stopped I think