DeSantis signed a bill tackling small retail theft, which obviously demolish downtowns and collectively undermine civilization. Forget useless corporate media.
Click Orlando covered the story under the headline, “‘Hell to pay:’ New Florida law cracks down on retail theft, porch pirates.
Unlike blue states, Florida is cracking down on small-dollar crimes, under the “broken windows” theory pioneered by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, which correctly posits that ignoring small crimes emboldens criminals to commit more serious crimes.
Florida’s new law expands penalties for retail theft including:
- “Gangs of thieves,” where criminals shoplift in groups of five or more people (third-degree felony, punishable by up to 5 years in prison).
- Gangs of five or more who use social media to solicit others to join in shoplifting sprees (second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison).
- Shoplifting with a firearm or with two or more prior shoplifting convictions (first-degree felony, punishable by up to 30 years in prison).
- Applying felony charges to multiple shoplifting crimes committed within a four-month period (increased from 30 days).
- “Porch piracy,” or the theft of property worth less than $40 (first-degree misdemeanor, increasing to a third-degree felony on the second occurrence). Theft of property worth over $40 or more is now a third-degree felony.
It seems like it might already be working:
Maybe that kind of thing works in San Francisco or Chicago, but not in Florida. In Florida, lax shoplifting laws are not any kind of stealth reparations.
As unlikely as this seemed in 2019, Florida — now dark red with a +1 million Republican voter advantage — continues leading the nation in preserving freedom, honor, and perhaps civilization itself.
