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| Study: Florida's mandatory prison-term a success |
| By news-press.com - News Service of Florida |
| Published: 06/11/2012 |
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Criminal justice experts say they weren't surprised by last week's study showing that the time Florida prisoners spend behind bars has grown more than in any other state – a 166 percent increase in the average sentence between 1990 and 2009. Former Department of Corrections Secretary James McDonough ascribed the findings of the report, "Time Served: The High Cost, Low Return of Longer Prison Terms" by the Pew Center on the States to changes in Florida statutes during the mid-to-late 1990's. He cited 1995's "Truth in Sentencing" law, requiring inmates to serve at least 85 percent of their sentences, and two 1999 laws: "Three Strikes," by which a third felony conviction requires a minimum sentence of 25 years to life if someone is injured or killed, and "10-20-Life," which established mandatory minimum sentences for crimes involving firearms. "Politics in Florida has been such that public officials are afraid to appear, quote, 'weak on crime,'" McDonough said. "And the way that's defined is, 'Don't lighten up on the sentencing in any way whatsoever.'" He said the state's prison terms jumped so much, so fast because in 1990, Florida inmates were serving just 30 percent of their sentences. "We had prison overcrowding at that time, so we came up with a parole policy and a probation policy that really let a lot of inmates out much, much too early," McDonough said. "So the pendulum had swung one way. And then throughout the 90's and the last ten years, we saw the pendulum swing … the other way. "So you came up with a series of laws and policies that brought us up to this incredible increase in length of stay." The state's position is that such laws have reduced crime immensely. Read More. |
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