Orlando Sentinel by Jim Turner News Service of Florida
March 6, 2019
TALLAHASSEE — Recordings and photos related to the deaths of people in mass killings like the Pulse massacre in Orlando and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland would be blocked from public release under bills before the House and Senate.
But several lawmakers, citing video footage tied to last year’s Parkland shooting, said the proposals need to be changed so government missteps can’t be hidden from the public.
The Senate Rules Committee on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposed public-records exemption that would keep under wraps photographs, video and audio recordings in incidents in which three or more people, not including the killer, are slain.
The proposal would make it a third-degree felony to violate the proposed records exemption. On Tuesday, the House State Affairs Committee unanimously backed a similar proposal. The bills are positioned to go to the full Senate and House.