Florida Bill Seeks Mandatory Life Sentences for Manslaughter of Police Officers

 A new Florida bill seeks to broaden the scope of criminal offenses and increase penalties for those who commit crimes against law enforcement and other specified public service personnel.

What it does: HB 17, named the “Jason Raynor Act,” primarily tightens the law regarding resisting arrest, making it a felony to knowingly resist, obstruct, or oppose a specified officer or legally authorized person by offering or doing violence. It also adds a provision defining “acting in good faith” for officers carrying out an arrest or detention.

The bill also makes several other key changes to state law:

• Mandates life imprisonment for defendants convicted of manslaughter against a specified officer who was acting in the performance of official duties, in addition to existing penalties for various degrees of murder or attempted murder of an officer.
• Expands the definition of “law enforcement officer” in assault and battery cases to include various correctional, probation, and certain federal or state agency personnel.
• Increases the felony level and mandates minimum prison sentences for aggravated assault and aggravated battery committed against a law enforcement officer, with minimums of three and five years, respectively.
• Raises the severity ranking for the offense of battery on a law enforcement officer and other specified personnel on the state’s Criminal Punishment Code chart, moving the crime from Level 4 to Level 5.