> Lawmakers expected to pass tough sentencing bill
>
> Published in The Orlando Sentinel on March 13, 1999.
>
> By David Cox
> Tallahassee Bureau
> TALLAHASSEE -- Lawmakers are set to hand Gov. Jeb Bush his second
> major legislative victory next week by sending him a bill that was the
> centerpiece of his anti-crime platform.
>
> House and Senate leaders concluded negotiations over the so-called
> "10-20-Life" bill Friday, and it could be on Bush's desk by the end of
> next week, said Rep. Victor Crist, chairman of the House Criminal
> Justice and Corrections Council.
>
> "We've all come to terms with the language in the bill, and it's
> doable," Crist, R-Temple Terrace, said Friday.
>
> Crist said that Wednesday the House is expected to pass an identical
> version of the bill that the Senate passed this week.
>
> Crist's exuberance over hammering out the differences in the
> legislation with the Senate probably won't be shared with the dozen or
> so black lawmakers who voted against the bill this week.
>
> They fear the harsh penalties will be applied most often to blacks and
> other minorities.
>
> "I want to be tough on crime," said Rep. Les Miller of Tampa, the
> House Democratic leader whose son was shot at a late-night party one
> block from the Capitol two years ago. "But I believe the
> tough-on-crime laws are already in place."
>
> Black lawmakers in the Senate were able to place a provision in the
> bill for prosecutors to track the race and gender of those charged
> under the law. This information will have to be reported to the
> Legislature and the governor every year.
>
> The measure promises a criminal at least 10 years in prison if he
> carries a gun while committing a crime. Firing a gun during commission
> of a crime would bring a 20-year term, and 25 years to life would be
> imposed if a victim was injured or killed.
>
> Lawmakers intend to spend at least $500,000 on a promotional campaign
> to warn criminals of the pending law prior to it taking effect in
> July.
>
> Here are some of the key differences between the House and Senate bill
> that lawmakers have agreed to:
>
> What constitutes possession of a gun. The House wanted to require that
> the gun had to be in the criminal's possession at the time of the
> incident but agreed with the Senate to say that the gun had to be
> within the criminal's reach.
>
> Reporting the outcome of cases prosecuted under the measure. The House
> wanted to force prosecutors to post the outcome of cases on the
> Internet.
>
> Prosecutors objected to the provision saying it would pressure them to
> charge more people under the law than they could successfully convict.
> The House has now agreed to require prosecutors only to report the
> outcome of cases to the governor and the Legislature once a year.