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Currents
February 2018
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New limits on construction in high-risk areas. How
Florida copes with the effects of Hurricane Irma and
prepares for the next Big One will be a big issue in
the legislative session. So will increased demands
on services, largely in the Orlando area, as a result
of the mass migration of a quarter million Puerto
Ricans, who fled their homeland after Hurricane
Maria devastated the island.
Justice: "Fight Club," The Miami Herald's expose
of violent and unsafe conditions at state-run juvenile
detention centers, provides an impetus for lawmak-
ers to seek reforms, while a growing number of law-
makers say Florida "minimum mandatory" sentenc-
ing laws demand change after years of debate. Two
Pinellas lawmakers, Republican Sen. Jeff Brandes
and Democratic Rep. Ben Diamond, are leading
efforts to give judges more leeway in sentencing
people for low-level drug crimes to keep non-violent
offenders out of state prisons.
Texting: Support is growing to make Florida the
46th state in which texting while driving is a primary
continued on page 9 >