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SPONSOR: |
HJC |
DATE TYPED: |
|
HB |
215/HJCS |
||
SHORT TITLE: |
Protection of Mails Act |
SB |
|
||||
|
ANALYST: |
Fox-Young |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
||
FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
|
|
|
|
|
$0.1 See Narrative |
|
|
(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases
Responses
Received From:
Corrections
Department (CD)
Attorney General (AG)
Association of District Attorneys (AODA)
Administrative Office
of the Courts (AOC)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
The House Judiciary Committee Substitute for HB 215 enacts the crime of “destruction of a letter box,” making it a misdemeanor to intentionally destroy a letter box.
Destruction of a letter box consists of intentionally and without the consent of the owner:
· Tearing down, taking, damaging or destroying a letter box; or
· Breaking open a letter box.
Significant Issues
There is a question as to whether federal law would
preempt this Act.
The AG notes that federal law
already punishes anyone who “knowingly and willfully obstructs or retards the
passage of the mail, or any carrier or conveyance carrying the mail” with a
fine and up to six months in jail.
Additionally, AG notes that Congress has exclusive authority “to establish
post offices and post roads.” (
AG reports that both
federal and state courts have indicated that federal law may preempt state
regulation of the mail. In Carter v.
State (420 So.2d 292,
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
Courts, district attorneys and public defenders would likely experience increases in caseload, with the passage of this bill.
County jails will likely see population increases as a result of the bill.
The Corrections Department (CD) notes that probation and parole may see an increase in clients.