Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a surprise veto Tuesday, rejecting a popular criminal justice reform bill that had received overwhelming bipartisan support in the state Legislature.
The move amplified his efforts to move to the right of former President Donald Trump on a range of issues, including on crime prevention.
Criminal justice has become a hot topic in the 2024 presidential campaign in recent weeks. Last month, DeSantis told conservative pundit Ben Shapiro that, if elected to the White House, he would try to repeal Trump’s First Step Act, a law aimed at lowering recidivism rates.
DeSantis’ campaign has also tried to spotlight his hard-line approach to fighting crime by taking a trip to San Francisco to show the Democratic stronghold’s struggles, and this week, he said he would use “deadly force” against suspected drug traffickers trying to break through barriers at the southern border.
DeSantis voted for an early version of the First Step Act as a member of Congress, but during his time as governor and now a presidential candidate, he has honed a message much more in line with hard-line conservatives who have generally opposed policies that could be perceived as soft on crime.
The latest example came Tuesday night when he vetoed legislation that would allow adults to expunge their criminal record — even if they previously had their record expunged as a minor — which is not allowed under current Florida law. The proposal, HB 605, would open up the opportunity only to people who had charges dropped, were found not guilty or were arrested but not ultimately charged.
The bill was sponsored in the Florida House by Republican state Rep. David Smith, who has endorsed DeSantis’ presidential bid. Smith said he was “disappointed” by the governor’s move.
“I was not provided any reason for the veto,” Smith told NBC News. “However, his senior staff has expressed to me a willingness to work on the bill language before the 2024 legislative session with the expectation it could be signed into law next year.”
He said he is not reconsidering his presidential endorsement of DeSantis because of the veto, even though it’s the second time he has had a criminal justice reform bill vetoed by the governor. The other was a 2021 bill that proposed allowing the expungement of juvenile criminal records for those who went through a diversion program.
One year later, DeSantis signed a version of the bill that did not include “forcible felonies.”
Criminal justice groups who supported the bill that was vetoed Tuesday were surprised because it had passed with unanimous support in the Florida Senate, and only two “no” votes in the House.
“Expungement is not a ‘soft on crime’ policy,” said Christian Minor, a Florida lobbyist who was directly involved in advocating for the bill’s passage. It “would have afforded Floridians never convicted of a crime the opportunity to expunge their records and go on to lead a life of success and become tax-paying citizens.”
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