A measure moved forward Tuesday in the Florida House that would allow pregnant people convicted of felonies to delay going to prison for up to three months after a baby is born.
The bill, HB 779, was passed by the House Justice Appropriations Committee in a 14-1 vote. After mostly bipartisan support was heard, Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Seminole, cast the only dissenting vote. (Jacques also sponsored the House version of a bill to amend the current Florida Statute that requires a unanimous jury vote on death penalty cases, so that only 8 or 10 jurors would need to vote for death.)
The measure will be sent to the Judiciary Committee before it can be considered by the full House.
Dubbed “Ava’s Law” by bill sponsor Dianne Hart, D-Tampa, the legislation was drafted in response to the death of a baby born in the Alachua County Jail last year.
Erica Thompson, 25, gave birth in an Alachua County Jail cell Aug. 9 after being arrested that same day for violating her probation and failing to appear in court . She told officers she was pregnant and having contractions, according to an analysis of the bill.
After she was processed into the facility, Thompson gave birth to Ava, who arrived three months premature. Ava died hours later, after being transported to a hospital.
Thompson later wrote in a Facebook post that her screams for help from her cell went unanswered.
“my daughter died in my arms at the hospital and I say all this to say ALACHUA COUNTY JAIL is responsible for all my pain and suffering,” she wrote in a post that has since been deleted. “they’re responsible for the death of my daughter.”
A four-month-long investigation by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office concluded no misconduct had taken place inside the jail. Thompson’s supporters disagreed, and legislation bearing Ava’s name was the result.
“We must think about all the other incarcerated mothers who have faced situations like this one,” Hart said. “And we cannot continue to fail them.”
Ava’s Law, Rep. Hart says, would give judges complete discretion as to whether someone would be allowed to defer their sentence up to 12 weeks to care for a newborn.
Judges would consider the severity of the offense, the defendant’s criminal record, and whether delaying incarceration poses a danger to the community. Pregnant people who are granted deferrals would be placed on probation until they were incarcerated.
It would also require that every inmate arrested and not released on bond within 72 hours be informed of the right to a pregnancy test as they are booked into detention facilities.
A similar Senate bill, SB 730, has not yet received a committee hearing.