Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Ana CeballosJanuary 23, 2018

Florida is home to more than 1.5 million citizens who can’t cast a vote in elections unless granted clemency by Gov. Rick Scott and the Cabinet. But that could change in November. State election officials on Tuesday verified that the constitutional amendment that would automatically restore the voting rights of convicted felons—except for those convicted […]

Ana CeballosJanuary 10, 2018

Members of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Wednesday advanced bills that would have different outcomes on Florida’s felon population, which prompted one Democrat to call arguments on one of the bills “flat out stupid.” The bills before the House panel would create third-degree felonies for inmates who bring cellphones into county jails, a separate […]

Guest AuthorJanuary 4, 2018

Florida is falling behind on criminal justice reform. While a majority of states – including Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas – have adopted comprehensive criminal justice reforms over the last several years with bipartisan support, Florida has done little to evaluate its existing policies and create a more effective system. Other states are reducing […]

Ana CeballosDecember 28, 2017

A pair of criminal justice reform proposals are laying out an ambitious plan that could reduce crime and incarceration rates in Florida by implementing pre-arrest diversion programs statewide. Sen. Jeff Brandes, a Republican from St. Petersburg, filed a bill on Thursday that would direct all judicial circuits in the state to create and implement both […]

Ana CeballosNovember 15, 2017

Some Florida lawmakers say that seeing the positive impact of criminal justice reform efforts in other states has given them new impetus to push for measures that aim to reduce the state’s prison population by giving sentences that “fit a just result.” The early bipartisan undertaking to reform the state’s criminal justice system — an […]

Jenna Buzzacco-FoersterMay 31, 2017

Sen. Jeff Brandes said he plans to continue his push for criminal justice reform, advancing a multi-year process to take a closer look at the state’s criminal justice system. Brandes, who has made criminal justice reform a top priority, was in Washington, D.C. last week for the Right on Crime annual summit. The conservative-leaning organization […]

Scott PowersApril 13, 2017

A coalition of groups led by the Advancement Project in Washington D.C. is filing an amicus brief charging Gov. Rick Scott with refusing to recognize voters’ will in the State Attorney Aramis Ayala case in the Florida Supreme Court. The coalition, including Civil Rights, immigration reform and labor groups, is characterizing Ayala as a criminal justice […]

William PatrickFebruary 20, 2017

Florida’s state lawmakers increasingly are embracing criminal justice reform policies that break with the state’s “tough on crime” past. But a sea change could be in the works. But a sea change could be in the works. Last year, Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, and the GOP-controlled legislature approved one of the most far-reaching civil asset […]

Larry GriffinJanuary 6, 2017

Senator Randolph Bracy, newly elected to District 11, is taking initiative in his role on the Senate Criminal Justice Committee with a new bill that would give tax credits to businesses which hire felons. The bill, SB 276, amends the Florida statute on state work opportunity tax credits to include a new section, which offers […]

Staff ReportsSeptember 19, 2016

Floridians may be rethinking their throw-the-book-at-’em approach to crime, a poll released Monday suggests. The survey by The James Madison Institute and the Charles Koch Institute found that 72 percent of Floridians agreed or strongly agreed it is important to reform criminal justice. Seventy-five percent agreed or strongly agreed the prison population costs the country […]

Tag: criminal justice reform

Initiative that would restore felons’ voting rights qualifies for 2018 ballot

In criminal justice debate, House member calls cell phone bill ‘flat out stupid’

Melba Pearson, Shalini Goel Agarwal: Keep Florida from falling further behind; adopt meaningful criminal justice reform

Florida could soon implement pre-arrest diversion programs statewide

Lawmakers champion efforts to reform criminal justice system

Criminal justice reform remains a top priority for Jeff Brandes

Amicus brief to charge Rick Scott with voter disenfranchisement in Aramis Ayala case

Task force would seek to remake Florida’s criminal justice system

Randolph Bracy’s SB 276 would give tax credits to businesses for hiring felons

Florida growing friendlier to criminal-justice reform, poll indicates