Florida senator files amendment prohibiting children 10 and younger from being arrested
ORLANDO, Fla. - A Florida state senator is working to make it illegal to arrest young children in Florida after a 6-year-old’s arrest in Orlando gained national attention last September.
Senator Randolph Bracy III (D-Ocoee) said he will file an amendment to SB1308 on Tuesday prohibiting law enforcement from arresting children 10-years old and younger unless it is for a violent felony. The bill amendment will be debated and voted on in the Senate Appropriations Committee at 1 p.m. on March 3rd.
“I decided it was time that we had a prohibition of the arrest of youth in this state,” Senator Bracy said. His original bill would have prohibited the arrest of a child 12-years-old and younger but he said he had to compromise with fellow lawmakers. “I think there are only two states that have 12 as the minimum age of arrest. So I think the senators that wanted to support it felt more comfortable that we be in line with the rest of the country in regards to this legislation.”
Meralyn Kirkland said her six-year-old granddaughter, Kaia Rolle, was arrested for battery in September 2019 after she had a temper tantrum at the Luicious and Emma Nixon Academy Charter School in Orlando. Kirkland said her granddaughter was arrested, handcuffed and taken to the Juvenile Detention Center where she was fingerprinted and had a mugshot taken. The charges against the girl were later dropped.
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Kirkland said she will be in Tallahassee on Tuesday to testify before lawmakers about her granddaughter’s traumatic experience. Kirkland said her granddaughter still has nightmares and sees a therapist twice a week.
“She still has a fear of police officers,” Kirkland said. “Specifically if she’s being taken to school and there’s a patrol car passing or there’s any hint of an officer around then she always follows up with grandma, are they there for me or are they going there for me?”
Kirkland said she supports Senator Bracy’s bill amendment and hopes it passes, stating that “I would’ve really been more comfortable with a higher age but at least it’s a starting point.”
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Senator Bracy said if the bill amendment passes it will be attached to the criminal justice package, which still has to work its way through the legislature. Lawmakers will also debate and vote on the entire criminal justice package in Tallahassee Tuesday.