The Florida State Senate passed a bill that will reduce the penalty for shoplifting from a felony to a misdemeanor on Friday. Under current Florida law, anyone who is convicted of stealing merchandise valued between $300 and $20,000 faces a felony charge, with a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a fine of $5000.

This new bill (SB 1548) would reduce that current penalty down to 1 year and $1000 for any theft up to $600.

Here is my opinion: By reducing the penalties for shoplifting, Florida lawmakers are sending the message that the increase in theft is not that important. Instead of doing something to fund already stretched courts and prosecutors, they have opted to reduce the workload by making the criminal offense less serious.

Oh yeah, and next year, they will undoubtedly claim credit for a reduction in serious theft-related crime.

Anybody from Florida want to comment and start a dialogue on this? How about anybody else?

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