Florida Politics - Campaigns & Elections. Lobbying & Government.

Guest AuthorDecember 11, 2017

During the upcoming 2018 Florida Legislative Session, Right on Crime will serve as a resource to lawmakers on the importance of criminal justice reform, breaking down long-held, but unsupported, policy prescriptions. For example, the assumption that to decrease crime, all drug offenders should be subjected to the same mandatory minimum sentences has led to burdensome […]

Associated PressAugust 18, 2017

Florida’s 148 prison facilities remain on lockdown as guards search cells, seizing a number of weapons and other contraband. The Miami Herald reports all able-bodied administrators and officers, including new cadets and probation and parole officers have been ordered to report to the state’s dangerously understaffed institutions. This comes as officials canceled visitation at the state’s prisons […]

Associated PressAugust 17, 2017

Prison officials in Florida cited a security threat in canceling visitation at most of its 148 facilities. In a statement released Wednesday, prison officials said the cancellation is in response to “credible intelligence indicating that small groups of inmates at several institutions may attempt to disrupt operations and impact safety and security.” The Orlando Sentinel reports prison […]

Guest AuthorApril 18, 2017

Since 1970, the size of Florida’s prison population has grown by more than 1,000 percent, and its corrections system is now the third largest in the nation. Under the state’s rigid mandatory minimum laws, more people are being sent to prison for a longer amount of time, with an annual average cost of $20,553 per […]

Michael MolineMarch 6, 2017

Sponsors of legislation requiring the state to produce a report each year on criminal sentencing disparities based on race said Monday that they don’t mean an attack on judges but need to know what the data show. “I’ve heard there’s been some consternation from some judges,” said Sen. Audrey Gibson, a Democrat from Jacksonville. “The bill is […]

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 […]

Mitch PerryApril 8, 2016

A mentally ill inmate who was in protective custody was found dead at the Columbia Correctional Institution on Tuesday, a day after a corrections officer was hospitalized in an attack. It’s yet another black mark on Florida’s prison system, one that many say is overcrowded and underfunded. The Department of Corrections, though, insists those issues had nothing […]

Scott PowersMarch 16, 2016

The Florida Policy Institute says the state’s new 2016 budget is better than Gov. Rick Scott’s initial proposal. The nonprofit’s report, though, says the spending plan still lacks adequate investment in health care, public education, prisons and other state services. The report praised the Legislature for killing Scott’s proposed $1 billion tax cut, saying it […]

Brendan FarringtonDecember 14, 2015

Florida’s prisons are understaffed, lack adequate prison programs, have deteriorating facilities and fences and have a high turnover rate that’s led to inexperienced officers being responsible for some of the most important duties, according to a report that sheds an unflattering light on the Department of Corrections. The 178-page report was prepared for a legislative […]

Martin DyckmanJanuary 20, 2015

Barely a month after Reubin Askew became governor in 1971, inmates at Florida’s largest prison began a series of sit-down and hunger strikes. Their keepers used excessive force – birdshot, bullets and beatings – to restore control. Askew took immediate ownership of the situation. He sent two aides to Raiford to investigate and overruled the […]

Tag: Florida prisons

Chelsea Murphy: Right on Crime; conservative on justice

Florida’s prisons locked down, visits canceled amid threat

Security threat leads Florida to cancel prison visitations

Ewan Watt, Jordan Richardson: Lessons in lockup — what Florida can learn from Texas

Legislation would require reporting on race disparities in criminal sentencing

Florida growing friendlier to criminal-justice reform, poll indicates

Jeff Brandes say his next focus will be on reforming Florida prison system

Policy institute calls final state budget better than Rick Scott’s, but still lacking

Study finds Florida prisons understaffed, deteriorating

Martin Dyckman: Aloof Scott lets prison crisis fester, worsen