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Ana CeballosMarch 8, 2018

With a budget deal done, there is good news for juvenile detention and probation officers. They are getting a pay raise. The House and Senate agreed Wednesday to set aside $8 million in pay raises for the more than 2,000 detention and probation officers who work with at-risk youth in the state. That amount goes […]

Staff ReportsJanuary 24, 2018

Editor’s note: Miami Herald journalist Carol Marbin Miller and former Herald reporter Audra D.S. Burch became the first recipients of the Lucy Morgan Award for Open Government Reporting, recognized for the series “Fight Club: Dark Secrets of Florida Juvenile Justice.” Established in November by the First Amendment Foundation, the award is named for Pulitzer Prize-winning Tampa […]

Ana CeballosJanuary 2, 2018

Hailing from the Palm Beach Post’s investigative team, Lawrence Mower is the newest reporter to join the Tampa Bay Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau. Mower started the job last week and will cover state government and the Legislature, just in time for Session which starts Jan. 9. “I’m really happy to be here during a pretty […]

Ana CeballosNovember 13, 2017

Emily L. Mahoney, who recently did investigative work for the Miami Herald during a 10-week summer internship, has been hired to cover the state Legislature for the Tampa Bay Times as part of the combined Times/Miami Herald Tallahassee bureau. Mahoney is currently finishing up the Cronkite Data Fellowship with the Houston Chronicle and will be […]

Peter SchorschNovember 9, 2017

There are three critical “T’s” of political campaigns: timing, temperature and tone. Mary Barzee Flores hit all three when she called for the impeachment of Donald Trump. The former circuit judge and current candidate in Miami’s “clown car” Democratic primary in Florida’s 27th Congressional District also urged fellow Democrats to run on the issue in […]

Florence SnyderOctober 10, 2017

Eleven days ago, Gov. Rick Scott dropped a news release proposing a 10 percent pay raise for juvenile detention and juvenile probation officers. Today, the Miami Herald dropped its comprehensive carpet bomb on Scott’s Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ). Maybe it’s a coincidence. The Herald’s book-length investigative series is a stomach-churning compilation of examples of […]

Mitch PerrySeptember 20, 2017

Nearly nine years after former Nasdaq chair Bernie Madoff was arrested for running a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, his victims may finally start receiving compensation within the next few months. More than $4 billion sits in a fund created in 2012 to repay Madoff’s victims in one of the biggest fraud cases ever. The fund consists […]

Mitch PerryJuly 17, 2017

Illeana Ros-Lehtinen’s decision to not seek another term representing Florida’s 27th Congressional District has spurred six Democrats to enter the 2018 contest. Among those Democrats is Michael A. Hepburn, a senior academic adviser for the School of Business at the University of Miami. He lost a 2014 primary election against Daphne Campbell for the state House. […]

Peter SchorschJuly 13, 2017

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It was a moment Florida Department of Corrections Secretary Julie Jones remembered clearly — even though she got it completely wrong. Talking with the Miami Herald in 2017, Jones recounted a visit to Graceville Correctional Facility two years earlier; Graceville is a North Florida correctional facility operated by Geo Group, a Boca Raton-based private company […]

Mitch PerryJune 16, 2017

It was a tough room for House Speaker Richard Corcoran. Speaking before an unfriendly crowd of public school supporters in Tampa, Corcoran doubled down on his support of an education bill that creates a new system of charter schools to replace underperforming public schools. On Thursday, Corcoran stood beside Rick Scott in Orlando as the Governor signed the controversial […]

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Lawmakers agree with Rick Scott, give juvenile officers $8m in pay raises

Carol Marbin Miller talks winning war of secrecy, truth in Lucy Morgan reporting award speech

Personnel note: Lawrence Mower joins Times/Herald capital bureau

Personnel note: Emily L. Mahoney joining Times/Herald capital bureau

Mary Barzee Flores impeachment talk hits the mark; will Democrats listen?

Florence Snyder: Rick Scott’s juvenile justice budget, a wet bandage for Stage 4 cancer

DOJ says Bernie Madoff victims are finally about to be compensated

Congressional hopeful Michael Hepburn boasts of already receiving more than 1,700 contributions

How Julie Jones got it completely wrong with GEO Group ‘Continuum of Care’

In Tampa, Richard Corcoran faces hostile crowd angry about school bill