Ever come up with a bright idea and think, “That ought to be a law?”
Well, a group of students from several high schools did and they brought their ideas straight to the office ofstate Rep. Chris Latvala.
“We’d like to create an act that protects law enforcement from disrespectful verbal or physical gestures,” said high school senior Michael Connor.
A ban on verbal abuse and physical gestures towards law enforcement sounds good in theory. But we asked legal analyst Kevin Hayslett how much teeth a law like this would have if passed. He said it may not make it that far.
“That’s great, but it flies in the face of the First Amendment,” Hayslett said. “The First Amendment says, specifically Florida law says ... that a citizen can come up to an officer and say, 'F*** you,' and that’s protected constitutional speech.”
The students argued their point to Latvala, and so did dozens of others.
Sarah Forner and Ava Davis want drivers to have to take an eye exam every three years instead of 10.
“Florida’s known for being one of the worst states for drivers so we wanted to try and make the roads safer,” Forner said.
There were three other proposals. One wants to make a class period in school to serve as study hall. Another asked for fewer standardized tests in school. One group even proposed allowing certain employees in grades K-12 to carry a weapon.
Latvala admits he has a hard decision to make in this student competition.
“The problem that we’re going to have is just selecting one. I wish I could select all five of them 'cause they’re all great ideas,” Latvala said.
The winner of the contest will be decided Thursday morning. The winning idea will be sponsored by Latvala and it could one day become Florida law.
Students in this contest were from Clearwater High School, Countryside High School and Lakeside Christian School.