Florida drug law unconstitutional, federal judge rules

23536

23536

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A federal judge has declared Florida's drug statute unconstitutional as it lacks the element of intent. If upheld on appeal, the decision could spring hundreds, possibly thousands, of people accused of drug crimes.

U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven of Orlando, in an order issued Wednesday, noted that Florida is the only state in the nation to eliminate intent as an element of its Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Legislators excised it in 2002.

Scriven cited the example of a student who hides his cocaine in a friend's backpack without telling him. The friend, having no idea it is there, is guilty under the law even if he had no intent to possess it or didn't know it was there.

. . .

The legislature's decision to deny its citizens the benefit of core, age-old constitutional principles, including the "due process" requirement inherent in the 14th Amendment, is alarming and arrogant," King wrote. "Judge Scriven's ruling simply renews the mandates inherent in the Constitution which our legislature opted to ignore.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/pb-florida-drug-law-unconstitutional-072811,0,5425932.story
 
I love BL Floridians but im sorry, florida has some of the worst laws....period. It makes me happy to see that someone in the judicial system has some common sense and a good sense of constitutional law.
 
Legal drama flares in Florida drug-law case


The legal battle over Florida’s drug law is heating up.

Two Miami-Dade circuit judges have swatted down attempts to capitalize on a controversial Orlando federal court ruling that declared Florida’s drug possession and trafficking law unconstitutional.

Late last week, a state trial judge in Pensacola followed suit, refusing to dismiss 17 cases. The federal judge’s opinion held no sway there, Circuit Judge Paul Rasmussen ruled. Also, late Thursday, another U.S. judge, this time in Jacksonville, disagreed with his federal colleague, ruling that a man’s 15-year sentence under the statute “is lawful” and does not “violate his right to due process.”

The legal drama exploded on July 27, when U.S. Judge Mary Scriven ruled that Florida’s drug law was “draconian” because prosecutors do not have to prove that the accused actually knew they were carrying illegal drugs. Her ruling in Shelton v. Department of Corrections has drawn kudos from defense lawyers and sparked hundreds of requests statewide from defendants seeking their freedom.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/...al-drama-flares-in-florida.html#ixzz1V0c0zN36
 
I hope this goes to the supreme court, though I have very little respect for most of the current justices there.
 
The law was ruled unconstitutional because the way it was worded, put the burden of truth on the accused to prove themselves innocent.
 
Part of Florida drug law illegal, Miami-Dade judge says

A Miami-Dade circuit judge, echoing a federal judge, ruled Wednesday that he, too, felt a section of Florida's drug law was illegal.

At issue is a change made to state law in 2002, when the Legislature removed the burden on authorities to prove that the accused had “knowledge” that they carried illegal drugs, although defendants could use that defense at trial.

But on July 27, U.S. District Judge Mary Scriven ruled that the state’s drug law was “draconian” because prosecutors do not have to prove that the accused actually knew they were carrying illegal drugs.

That ruling, in Shelton v. Department of Corrections, drew kudos from defense lawyers and sparked hundreds of requests across the state from defendants seeking freedom, including in Miami-Dade.

In response to a request from 39 defendants to have their charges dismissed based on the Shelton case, Hirsch issued an opinion agreeing with Shelton and saying the charges were dismissed. Hirsch wrote is his order that he agrees that the current law violates a defendant's right to due process.


Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/17/2363128/part-of-florida-drug-law-illegal.html#ixzz1VKRf0MeZ
 
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