TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis' pardon canceling all COVID-related fines and criminal charges was officially adopted Wednesday during Florida's Clemency Board meeting.
“This action is necessary so we can recover, have a good transition to our normal operations, and also, just a recognition that a lot of this stuff was way, way overboard,” DeSantis said at the beginning of the meeting.
His motion to the clemency board was backed by Attorney General Ashley Moody and Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis. The only dissenting vote was from Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried.
Fried, the highest-elected Democrat in Florida, is a vocal opponent of DeSantis and is running for governor in 2022.
“I voted today to uphold our laws, while our so-called pro-law enforcement Governor is actively encouraging people to break the law with politically-motivated stunts like this," Fried's statement said in part. "We’ve seen what happens when rogue citizens are empowered by misguided leaders. We have laws for a reason. We may not agree with all of them, but we are obligated to follow them as the price of a civil society. Local leaders made choices to protect health, safety, and local economies during an unprecedented health crisis."
After the motion was adopted, DeSantis called on Mike and Jillian Carnevale, gym owners in Broward County who faced misdemeanor charges for repeatedly violating the local government's COVID-19 restrictions and mask requirements.
DeSantis said the Carnevale family's business was "successful" until the county imposed "unwarranted, unreasonable" restrictions due to COVID-19. Despite the county-mandated restrictions, the governor said the couple did not "kowtow" to the county's "demands."
According to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, over a two-week period last year, Mike Carnevale was arrested three times for "failing to meet the list of safety requirements outlined in the county's order."
During Wednesday's meeting, Mike Carnevale thanked DeSantis for not only pardoning him and his wife, but also "for all Floridians who have been persecuted due to COVID mandates and restrictions."
"I'm here today to say that health and wellness has always been one of our foundational responsibilities to ourselves. It has never been the role of government to be legally and lawfully enforcing and dictating health and wellness," Mike Carnevale said in part.
He also said the governor's clemency was an affirmation that "we were on to something."
DeSantis blamed the bureaucracy early in the pandemic for much of the restrictions imposed locally in the state and claimed people in good health "could handle COVID 99 percent of the time," suggesting restrictions on gyms throughout the early days of the pandemic was "not good health advice."
DeSantis also mentioned a new bill the Florida legislature passed this year limiting local government's power to issue emergency orders and close down businesses regarding COVID-19. He said he asked lawmakers to have the bill also restrict the governor's powers in that regard, despite him using his executive powers to open up and "liberate" businesses during the pandemic.
The governor did admit the Carnevale couple's case was "extreme," but putting a "stop" to further restrictions would allow the state to "focus on the real criminals."
Back in May, DeSantis issued an executive order granting temporary clemency to anyone or any business that was or could be charged or arrested for violating local government COVID-19 restrictions.
That executive order followed one DeSantis issued in March that put a retroactive end to local governments collecting fines for individuals or businesses violating COVID-related restrictions. DeSantis also stated in this new executive order he intends to make another statewide remission of fines.
Back in September 2020, the governor put a stop to local governments collecting fines from individuals who violated local mask mandates.
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