Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Staff ReportsApril 21, 2017

Wexford Health Sources is striking back at the Department of Corrections for canceling its contract to provide health care services at the state’s prisons. In a lengthy press release, the Pittsburgh-based private health care provider took issue with the department’s criticism of its performance: Wexford Health Sources disagrees with the assessment of the Correctional Medical Authority […]

Michael MolineFebruary 15, 2017

State attorneys and public defenders face off in court, but they agreed on one thing during a meeting Wednesday of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Criminal and Civil Justice: Their staff attorneys need pay raises. Trouble is, committee chairman Aaron Bean isn’t convinced there’ll be enough money to pay for that, as much as he sympathizes. […]

Staff ReportsJanuary 30, 2017

Gov. Rick Scott is looking to give Florida corrections officers a pay raise, including $38 million for the state’s prison system in his proposed budget. Mary Ellen Klas of the Miami Herald reports that the increase, part of the budget Scott will announce Tuesday, is for “officers up to and including the rank of captain.” […]

Jim RosicaDecember 23, 2016

The state’s leading death penalty opposition group is calling for more than 200 Florida death row inmates to have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) says a Florida Supreme Court decision on convicted killer Mark Asay out Thursday means that many are “entitled to be resentenced.” The court […]

Florence SnyderDecember 8, 2016

Columbia-County-Correctiona_1459802771415_2546626_ver1.0_1280_720.jpg

State Representative — and glutton for punishment — David Richardson (D-Miami Beach) brought his lonely crusade for improved prison infrastructure to the Columbia Correctional Institution on Thanksgiving Eve, giving inmates and guards the rare gift of something to be grateful for. Florida’s correctional facilities have been decaying for decades, out of sight and out of mind […]

Jim RosicaNovember 22, 2016

Alberto Moscoso, formerly press secretary for the Department of Corrections, now is communications director for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). Moscoso, who also holds the title of public information officer, started the new job Nov. 18, according to a Tuesday press release. “We are excited and proud to welcome Alberto,” said Bryan Koon, the […]

Peter SchorschOctober 25, 2016

An Orlando-based nonprofit says the state’s Department of Corrections is wrongly trying to discredit a POLITICO Florida report showing that it “misled” the public about shutting down community based re-entry centers. Bridges of America, one of several outside organizations helping ex-cons and others, also said DOC “continues to fail to address that they don’t have the […]

Staff ReportsOctober 21, 2016

The Department of Corrections Thursday released a knockdown of a damning report by POLITICO Florida that said the agency misled the public about plans to eliminate transitional programs for prisoners and probationers. Corrections’ rebuttal was nearly 1,200 words; POLITICO’s story was about 1,500 words. Gov. Rick Scott‘s administration has frequently employed the PR tactic of discrediting such investigative reports, […]

Staff ReportsOctober 14, 2016

Private prison operator The GEO Group says it has “no plans” to provide prisoner reentry services in Florida. Spokesman Pablo E. Paez responded Friday to a FloridaPolitics.com report this week on nonprofit groups saying the Department of Corrections was shutting them out of continuing to help inmates and probationers readjust to life “outside the walls.” Bridges of America CEO Lori Costantino-Brown and […]

Jim RosicaOctober 13, 2016

A Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman Thursday said speculation about private prison operator The GEO Group muscling out nonprofits that run rehab and re-entry programs in the state “is false.” Spokeswoman Michelle Glady responded to a FloridaPolitics.com report earlier in the day. In a press conference, nonprofit heads said the department was shutting down programs that help ex-cons with […]

Tag: Department of Corrections
Rodney Guttman, image via University of West Florida.

Wexford responds to DOC’s cancellation of health care contract

Lawyers for the state tell Senate committee they need pay raises, too

Rick Scott calls for widespread pay raises for corrections officers

After Asay decision, anti-death penalty advocates call for commutations

There oughta be a T-shirt for the David Richardson Tour

Personnel note: Alberto Moscoso moves to FDEM

Non-profits rebut Corrections’ accusations on re-entry programs

Dep’t of Corrections strikes back against POLITICO over transitional programs

GEO Group says it’s not interested in Fla. re-entry services

Corrections says ‘we are not limiting services’ to inmates