David Zimmermann writes for National Review Online about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ latest headlines.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Tuesday that combats retail theft and porch piracy, while attacking “leftist jurisdictions” such as California and New York for failing to implement policies that address these crimes.
“Many leftist jurisdictions are enacting policies that ignore retail theft or even encourage it. Those policies are dead on arrival in Florida. We catch criminals and prosecute them,” DeSantis posted on X.
The legislation, set to take effect July 1, will impose stricter penalties for people who steal retail items, swipe packages off porches, and use social media to incite looting. These offenses will mostly be punishable as felonies.
Before the bill was enacted, Florida had seen a 30 percent decrease in shoplifting since DeSantis took office five years ago. By contrast, shoplifting increased by 63 percent in New York City since 2019 and 81 percent in Los Angeles since 2022. The lenient policies that these cities put in place have forced many retailers to lock products in plastic cases amid rising crime.
“You look at a place like California, they passed Proposition 47 that allows people that commit retail theft to be charged with misdemeanor, even if it had traditionally been a felony. That means they get numerous retail-theft offenses. Did they get held accountable? No, they get a slap on the wrist,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Stuart, Fla., where he signed H.B. 549 into law.
“You look at New York, they eliminated cash bail for many offenses, including offenses for retail theft, so that now you can only get a felony theft charge if you steal more than $1,000 worth of merchandise; anything less, you get a desk-appearance ticket that has caused people to loot stores and do $999 worth of looting. And then they leave knowing that they’re not going to be held accountable,” the Republican governor added.
