Updates to the Bill:

HB 873 received a 14-0 favorable vote from the Criminal Justice and Safety Subcommittee on 1/18/22.

Story:

State representative Patt Maney has filed a whopping 34 bills for the 2022 legislative session. While we won’t be able to keep up with all of them, because, hey, this is a part-time gig for my family, one that is going to matter to us here in the Twin Cities and Bluewater Bay is House Bill 873.

OK, so HB 873 caught my eye because Florida has a strong reputation for making sure as much information as possible is available to the public. This bill would specifically prohibit state government from releasing any information that would allow a reader to deduce any person or company that is involved in an execution of a convicted person.

The bill would make significant changes to Florida State Statute 945.10, which covers open records laws.

This means that people and companies involved in the execution of a prisoner would be hidden from the public eye. While I can’t get into the head of Representative Maney or State Senator Doug Broxson (who sponsored the bill in the house) my best guess is that they are trying to relieve the shortage of chemicals made by European manufacturers that make death by lethal injection possible (more on that – here).

House Bill 873 has an identical bill in the Senate filed by Senator Doug Broxson of Gulf Breeze, Senate Bill 1204. The Bill has been referred to the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Subcommittee, the Judiciary Committee and Government Operations Committee.

We’ll keep you updated on the bill as it heads through the plumbing of the state capitol in Tallahassee!

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