News 4 Jax by Jenese Harris
December 24, 2019
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The intent of Marsy’s Law, which was approved by 61% of Florida voters in 2018, is to keep victims safe from people that committed crimes against them in Florida. But the law can also stop citizens from knowing about crimes near their homes.
“Certainly, initially, it’s making it more difficult out of an abundance of caution to comport with Marsy’s Law. The Sheriffs Office now goes to great length to redact a great deal of information from police reports,” said John Holzbaur, Associate Attorney with the Law Offices of Randy Reep.
Holzbaur said Marsy’s Law works for victims, but its a board rule that leads to few details about a crime.
Marsy’s Law was created to protect the victims of crimes and give them notice if the person that victimized their family is out of prison. A similar law is now in several states including Florida, Georgia and California. In Florida, the definition has expanded to keeping initial information about the crime secret.
