Florida Senate - 2019                                     SB 412
       
       
        
       By Senator Stewart
       
       
       
       
       
       13-00894A-19                                           2019412__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to access to clinics; providing a
    3         directive to the Division of Law Revision; creating s.
    4         762.01, F.S.; providing a short title; creating s.
    5         762.02, F.S.; defining terms; creating s. 762.03,
    6         F.S.; defining the term “minor child or ward”;
    7         prohibiting a person from committing certain acts
    8         against reproductive health services clients,
    9         providers, or assistants; prohibiting a person from
   10         damaging certain properties; providing penalties;
   11         providing construction; creating s. 762.04, F.S.;
   12         providing criminal penalties and fines for first
   13         offenses and for second and subsequent offenses;
   14         providing requirements for departures from the
   15         sentences and fines; creating s. 762.05, F.S.;
   16         providing civil remedies for those aggrieved by
   17         specified violations against reproductive health
   18         services clients, providers, or assistants or against
   19         certain properties; authorizing the Attorney General,
   20         a state attorney, or a city attorney to bring a civil
   21         action for such violations; creating s. 762.06, F.S.;
   22         requiring a court to take actions necessary to
   23         safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of specified
   24         persons under certain circumstances, including
   25         granting restraining orders that may prohibit or
   26         restrict the photographing of such persons;
   27         authorizing the court to authorize specified persons
   28         to use pseudonyms in a civil action; providing an
   29         effective date.
   30          
   31  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   32  
   33         Section 1. The Division of Law Revision is directed to
   34  create chapter 762, Florida Statutes, consisting of ss. 762.01
   35  762.06, Florida Statutes, to be entitled “Protection of the
   36  Exercise of Constitutional Rights.”
   37         Section 2. Section 762.01, Florida Statutes, is created to
   38  read:
   39         762.01Short title.—Sections 762.01-762.06 may be cited as
   40  the “Clinic Protection Act.”
   41         Section 3. Section 762.02, Florida Statutes, is created to
   42  read:
   43         762.02Definitions.—As used in ss. 762.01-762.06, the term:
   44         (1)“Crime of violence” means an offense that involves the
   45  use or attempted or threatened use of physical force against the
   46  person or property of another.
   47         (2)“Interfere with” means to restrict a person’s freedom
   48  of movement.
   49         (3)“Intimidate” means to place a person in reasonable
   50  apprehension of bodily harm to herself or himself or to another.
   51         (4)“Nonviolent” means conduct that would not constitute a
   52  crime of violence.
   53         (5)“Physical obstruction” means rendering ingress to or
   54  egress from a reproductive health services facility impassable
   55  to another person, or rendering passage to or from a
   56  reproductive health services facility unreasonably difficult or
   57  hazardous to another person.
   58         (6)“Reproductive health services” means reproductive
   59  health services provided in a hospital, clinic, physician’s
   60  office, or other facility and includes medical, surgical,
   61  counseling, or referral services relating to the human
   62  reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or
   63  the termination of a pregnancy.
   64         (7)“Reproductive health services client, provider, or
   65  assistant” means a person or entity that is or was involved in:
   66         (a)Obtaining or seeking to obtain any services in a
   67  reproductive health services facility;
   68         (b)Providing or seeking to provide any services in a
   69  reproductive health services facility;
   70         (c)Assisting or seeking to assist another person at that
   71  other person’s request to obtain or provide any services in a
   72  reproductive health services facility; or
   73         (d)Owning or operating, or seeking to own or operate, a
   74  reproductive health services facility.
   75         (8)“Reproductive health services facility” means a
   76  hospital, clinic, physician’s office, or other facility that
   77  provides or seeks to provide reproductive health services and
   78  includes the building or structure in which the facility is
   79  located.
   80         Section 4. Section 762.03, Florida Statutes, is created to
   81  read:
   82         762.03Prohibited acts.—
   83         (1)As used in this section, the term “minor child or ward”
   84  means a person’s child or legal guardian’s ward who is 16 years
   85  of age or younger.
   86         (2)A person may not commit any of the following acts:
   87         (a)Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering
   88  with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a
   89  person or an entity by force, threat of force, or physical
   90  obstruction because that person or entity is a reproductive
   91  health services client, provider, or assistant, or in order to
   92  intimidate that person or entity from becoming or remaining a
   93  reproductive health services client, provider, or assistant.
   94         (b)Intentionally injuring, intimidating, or interfering
   95  with, or attempting to injure, intimidate, or interfere with, a
   96  person or an entity by nonviolent physical obstruction because
   97  that person or entity is a reproductive health services client,
   98  provider, or assistant, or in order to intimidate that person or
   99  entity from becoming or remaining a reproductive health services
  100  client, provider, or assistant.
  101         (c)Intentionally damaging or destroying, or attempting to
  102  damage or destroy, a facility or the property of a person or
  103  entity because the facility, person, or entity is a reproductive
  104  health services facility or reproductive health services client,
  105  provider, or assistant.
  106         (3)A person who violates this section is subject to the
  107  penalties in s. 762.04.
  108         (4)This section does not prohibit a parent or legal
  109  guardian from restricting a minor child or ward’s access to a
  110  reproductive health services facility.
  111         Section 5. Section 762.04, Florida Statutes, is created to
  112  read:
  113         762.04Penalties.—
  114         (1)A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(b) for the first
  115  time commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by
  116  imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months and by a
  117  fine not exceeding $2,000. A second or subsequent offense
  118  constitutes a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable by
  119  imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 6 months and by a
  120  fine not exceeding $5,000.
  121         (2)A person who violates s. 762.03(2)(a) or (c) for the
  122  first time commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable
  123  by imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 1 year and by a
  124  fine not exceeding $25,000. A second or subsequent offense
  125  constitutes a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable by
  126  imprisonment in a county jail not exceeding 1 year and by a fine
  127  not exceeding $50,000.
  128         (3)Departures from the presumptive sentences and fines
  129  established in this section shall be articulated in writing and
  130  made when circumstances or factors reasonably justify the
  131  aggravation or mitigation of the sentences and fines.
  132         Section 6. Section 762.05, Florida Statutes, is created to
  133  read:
  134         762.05Civil actions.—
  135         (1)A person aggrieved by a violation of s. 762.03 may
  136  bring a civil action to enjoin the violation, for compensatory
  137  and punitive damages, and for the costs of the action and
  138  reasonable fees for attorneys and expert witnesses, except that
  139  only a reproductive health services client, provider, or
  140  assistant may bring an action for a violation of s. 762.03(2).
  141  With respect to compensatory damages, the plaintiff may elect,
  142  at any time before the rendering of a final judgment, to
  143  recover, in lieu of actual damages, an award of statutory
  144  damages in the amount of $1,000 for each exclusively nonviolent
  145  violation and $5,000 for each violation other than an
  146  exclusively nonviolent violation.
  147         (2)The Attorney General, a state attorney, or a city
  148  attorney may bring a civil action to enjoin a violation of s.
  149  762.03 for compensatory damages to persons aggrieved, as
  150  described in subsection (1), and for the assessment of a civil
  151  penalty against each respondent. The civil penalty may not
  152  exceed $2,000 for an exclusively nonviolent first violation and
  153  $15,000 for any other first violation, and may not exceed $5,000
  154  for a subsequent exclusively nonviolent violation and $25,000
  155  for any other subsequent violation.
  156         Section 7. Section 762.06, Florida Statutes, is created to
  157  read:
  158         762.06Safety and privacy.—
  159         (1)A court in which a criminal or civil proceeding is
  160  filed for a violation of s. 762.03(2) shall take all action
  161  reasonably required, including granting restraining orders, to
  162  safeguard the health, safety, or privacy of:
  163         (a)A reproductive health services client, provider, or
  164  assistant who is a party or witness in the proceeding; and
  165         (b)A person who is a victim of, or is at risk of becoming
  166  a victim of, an act prohibited under s. 762.03(2).
  167         (2)A restraining order issued pursuant to this section may
  168  include provisions prohibiting or restricting the photographing
  169  of a person described in subsection (1) if reasonably required
  170  to safeguard the person’s health, safety, or privacy.
  171         (3)A court may authorize a person described in subsection
  172  (1) to use a pseudonym in a civil action described in s. 762.05
  173  if reasonably required to safeguard the person’s health, safety,
  174  or privacy.
  175         Section 8. This act shall take effect July 1, 2019.