Ron DeSantis Delivers Blow to Republicans

Governor Ron DeSantis delivered a blow to Republicans in the Florida Statehouse this week by vetoing a popular criminal justice reform bill they'd championed in a move some believe was intended to bolster his "tough on crime" credentials for the GOP presidential primary.

On Tuesday, DeSantis vetoed a popular criminal justice reform bill that would have allowed offenders to apply for their criminal record to be cleared if the charges against them had been sealed or expunged. The bill also included exceptions to current law for those who previously received expungement of offenses committed as a minor, though it would not apply to a minor who was charged as an adult.

Though the bill passed with near-unanimous support in the Florida House and Senate, DeSantis did not issue a letter with his veto explaining why he did not support the bill, prompting speculation he did so not because he disagreed with the bill but because he sought to solidify his credibility as a "tough on crime" candidate in a campaign in which he lags far behind former President Donald Trump in national polling.

"Gov. DeSantis has always been a law-and-order leader," one aide familiar with DeSantis' thinking told NBC News after the veto. "While well-intentioned, he seems worried about the ratification of a more lenient view on criminal records."

Newsweek reached out to DeSantis' press office via email for comment.

Tuesday's veto was not the first time DeSantis has opposed expungement reforms in his state. In 2021, he issued a veto allowing juveniles to receive an expungement of their non-judicial criminal records after participating in a diversion program over concerns it would allow the unfettered removal of serious charges—like sexual battery—from someone's record.

He has supported tough reforms in his state, including signing legislation this year to lower the threshold for offenders to be sentenced to death from a unanimous vote to an 8-4 majority.

However Tuesday's veto, and his subsequent precedent-breaking decision not to include a letter explaining it, came against the backdrop of a campaign in which Trump has sought to attack his record on criminal justice policy.

In May, DeSantis announced he would seek to repeal bipartisan prison-reform legislation passed during the Trump administration called the "First Step Act," which he has since called the "jailbreak bill" over provisions reducing mandatory minimums and allowing pathways to early release for non-violent offenders.

"It has allowed dangerous people out of prison who have now re-offended, and really, really hurt a number of people," DeSantis said in an interview with the Daily Wire last month.

"If you are in jail, you should serve your time. And the idea that they're releasing people who have not been rehabilitated early, so that they can prey on people in our society, is a huge, huge mistake."

However, DeSantis supported an earlier version of the bill that he voted for during his time in Congress and continued to support before running for governor—a fact the Trump campaign seized on, claiming he'd "flip-flopped" on the legislation after once praising the First Step Act as a possible model for his own state during an event in 2019.

The campaign has disputed that account, claiming the earlier version of the First Step Act was stronger than the one that Congress ultimately passed.