Law Licenses Bill Passes Florida Senate
TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — The Florida Supreme Court will be allowed to grant law licenses to non-citizens under a bill that just passed the Senate and is headed to Gov. Rick Scott.
The Senate voted 26-7 Friday in favor of the bill.
The Supreme Court ruled in March that people in the country illegally can't be issued law licenses. The case involved Jose Godinez-Samperio, who was seeking his license after passing the bar in 2011. Godinez-Samperio came to the United States with his parents on a tourist visa when he was 9, and they remained in the country after it expired.
The court said Godinez-Samperio is an excellent candidate to become a lawyer, but the immigration status made him unqualified unless state law was changed.
Godinez-Samperio called the vote historic. Scott has said he'll sign the bill.
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