Righting past wrongs: Bill seeks out Dozier school abuse survivors

Historic photo shows Gov. Claude Kirk in 1968 touring Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys in Marianna.

It’s been nearly two years since Florida lawmakers apologized for deadly abuse at the Dozier School for Boys. Now, lawmakers want to start the lengthy process of identifying every survivor.

State Sen. Darryl Rouson, a St. Petersburg Democrat, believes it important to find every living survivor of abuse there.

The Arthur G. Dozier School and Okeechobee School Abuse Victim Certification Act (SB 1374) demands the state seek out living victims.

That list includes anyone subjected to physical, mental or sexual abuse while at Florida Reform schools from the 1940s through ’70s.

“The identification process is a crucial part of helping those affected by the atrocities that occurred at Florida’s Dozier School for Boys,” Rouson said.

“It will allow us to ensure that those who endured the mental and physical anguish of attending Dozier are duly compensated for the harm inflicted upon them by the state of Florida.”

Rouson followed the story of the boys for years, and sponsored Senate legislation to issue a rare public apology for the neglect.

Authorities believe staff at the school tortured children, sometimes to death, at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. The state sent any youths to schools in Marianna and Okeechobee on the taxpayer dime.

State officials removed several employees over reports of abuse in 1962. Gov. Claude Kirk sounded further alarms on conditions at the schools in 1968.

Still the full extent of horrors did not become known for years.

The original school operated from about 1900 to 2011, when Department of Justice officials reported on systemic abuse of children. As that news surfaced, survivors of decades of abuse come forward with tales.

Grave markers showed sites were those who died in a 1914 fire.

But University of South Florida archeologists and forensic anthropologists found remains of at least 106 people buried at the Marianna campus. Burn victims made up just a portion of fatalities.

Authorities say more boys were victim to a range of abuse, including being punished with trips to the “White House” on campus. Staff delivered corporal punishment there. Some victims since shared stories of being beaten with belts until they bled.

State Rep. Tracie Davis, a Jacksonville Democrat, filed companion House legislation (HB 1077) to Rouson’s Senate bill. She said it’s important the Florida Legislature certify the names of every victim of abuse.

“This bill is an essential element in achieving closure for the families involved in this tragedy,” she said.

Former Gov. Bob Martinez, a Republican who served from 1987 to 1991, worked over the years with survivors and families. He lobbied in 2016 for the state to relocate burial sites and establish a memorial.

Martinez, now a senior policy advisor at Holland & Knight, supports the new bill seeking out survivors.

“On behalf of the living victims of the Dozier and Okeechobee Reform Schools,” he said, “we look forward to working closely with Sen. Darryl Rouson and Rep. Tracie Davis in moving this bill forward and certifying the names of the children subjected to abuse under the care of the State.”