(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Driving without a license in Florida could result in jail time [1] ['Mitch Perry', 'More From Author', '- February'] Date: 2024-02-13 Motorists pulled over and found not to have valid driver’s licenses would face mandatory jail time if arrested three times for that offense, according to a proposal moving its way through the Legislature. But questions regarding how the measure could be enforced remained unresolved following a committee meeting on Tuesday. The measure (SB 1324) sponsored by Hernando County Republican Blaise Ingoglia, would subject a person found driving without a license to second-degree misdemeanor penalties of up to 60 days behind bars. A second offense would become a first-degree misdemeanor subject to up to one year in jail, and any third or subsequent offense would in addition bring a mandatory minimum 10 days in jail. “We’ve seen multiple instances of people entering the state of Florida, whether they are legal residents, if they are here illegally, and driving without ever having a license,” Ingoglia told members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on Criminal and Civil Justice. Ingoglia stressed that the bill was not about penalizing motorists who have been issued a driver’s license but don’t have it in their possession when confronted by a law enforcement officer. It’s targeted instead towards any individual who has never been issued a valid license by the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Miami-Dade County Democratic Sen. Jason Pizzo presented potential problematic scenarios to Ingoglia that he said could happen if the measure goes into law, such as a foreign national visiting the state who gets pulled over. Ingoglia said he would assume that the individual had entered the country legally at that point. “The patrol officer is going to determine in issuing a citation for no valid driver’s license the immigration status of the individual?” Pizzo asked. Ingoglia responded that if the person had not checked in at the U.S. border and was not awaiting an asylum hearing, “under those circumstances, I would guess this would apply.” He added that if that individual had come over on a visa or other documentation, “I would assume that they are here legally.” Pizzo then asked Ingoglia how someone from a local police department would know that. “Their entire interaction is [asking for] license and registration,” Pizzo said, adding, “how are you expecting it to extend and escalate to an immigration status question on that interaction?” Ingoglia didn’t have a clear response to that query. What about asylum seekers? Florida does not issue driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants and, as part of 2023 legislation cracking down on undocumented immigration, the state does not recognize driver’s licenses legally issued to undocumented immigrants from other states. NR Hines of the ACLU of Florida noted Ingoglia’s comment that the bill wasn’t intended to target individuals undergoing the asylum process. “It would be very difficult for a local police department to look up someone’s asylum process status,” she said. “And often times in our very difficult immigration system, individuals don’t get any kind of paper indication of their current asylum status. So, we’re concerned about individuals who are here legally under the process of asylum being grouped into this criminalization.” The committee voted for the bill, 8-1, with Democratic Sen. Bobby Powell of Palm Beach County the lone dissenting vote. “I’m on the assumption that if you’re driving without a valid license, you’re out on the streets without valid auto insurance, and you’re going to run into us or someone we know and now we’re out whatever we’re out,” said Pinellas County Republican Ed Hooper. “Too many people out there that are driving today without either a license or insurance and they’re causing havoc in all our communities.” “This sends a strong signal that we’re not going to give illegal immigrants or people who frankly or just too lazy to go down to the DMV and try to get a driver’s license and try to learn the rules of the road, we’re not going to treat them differently,” added Lee County Republican Jonathan Martin. The measure now has one more committee to get through before reaching the Senate floor. The House equivalent (HB 1589) also now just has one more committee stop to go through to reach the floor in that chamber as well. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2024/02/13/driving-without-a-license-in-florida-could-result-in-jail-time/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/