Trying to help human-trafficking victims get a new start in life, Florida lawmakers in 2013 unanimously passed a bill aimed at helping victims expunge records of crimes they might have committed under duress.
But pointing to an exception in the law, a South Florida appeals court Wednesday upheld a ruling that prevented a woman from shedding the record of a kidnapping charge that stemmed from a time when she was forced to work as a prostitute and recruit other women.
A three-judge panel of the Third District Court of Appeal indicated regret that it could not order expunction of a record for the woman identified only by the initials M.G. But like a Miami-Dade County circuit judge had ruled earlier, the appeals court said it did not have discretion to erase the kidnapping charge.
“While we can certainly sympathize with M.G.’s tragic circumstances and admire her determination in overcoming them, we cannot substitute our judgment for that of the Legislature,” said the 11-page ruling, written by Judge Kevin Emas and joined by Judges Richard Suarez and Ivan Fernandez. “The construction of the statute as urged by M.G. must be the result of legislative amendment, not judicial pronouncement.”
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