• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2022
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Past Prison Sentences Could Be Reduced as Criminal Justice Reform Advances at Legislature

April 1, 2019 | FlaglerLive | 5 Comments

prison reform
An opening on past sentences. (© FlaglerLive)

A bill that would give the Legislature power to decide on a law-by-law basis whether to reduce past prison sentences cleared a Senate panel Monday following tearful testimony from criminal-justice reform advocates.


The proposal came after Floridians in November overwhelmingly passed Amendment 11, which in part repealed a century-old provision called the “Savings Clause” to allow revisions to criminal laws to affect sentences for older crimes.

“The ability to make criminal justice reforms retroactive is the greatest ray of hope we have,” said Paul Heroux, with Florida Cares, an advocacy group for people who are incarcerated. “For many of our membership, the message of retroactivity is a hope so wonderful that it is painful.”

The bill (SB 1656), sponsored by Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, would “clarify” Amendment 11 and is backed by Attorney General Ashley Moody. The bill says all criminal statute revisions should apply prospectively unless the Legislature explicitly says they apply to older cases.

The measure was approved Monday by the Criminal Justice Committee, with Sen. Randolph Bracy, D-Orlando, opposed.

“I feel like we are thwarting the will of the voters,” Bracy said. “For that reason, I am not going to support the bill as amended.”

The bill would allow people awaiting trial to benefit from prospective criminal statute revisions, a provision sought by Sen. Jeff Brandes, R-St. Petersburg.

“If you have been charged with (aggravated) assault in February and you get your final judgment in October … at sentencing you would be charged under the new sentencing scheme the Legislature decided on July 1,” Brandes explained during committee on Tuesday.

With the Legislature able to make sentencing changes, Lee said he thinks it could help make criminal-justice reforms.

“I honestly think it is going to make it easier to pass criminal justice reform,” Lee argued. “If we put ourselves in a posture where every member in the Legislature has to think about how this may automatically apply to a post-conviction population, then people are going be worried about who we’re letting out of jail.”

Lee added that lawmakers would have to deal with the consequences in the “next mail piece” when they run for re-election.

“I have been around long enough, and you all have gone through enough campaigns, to know what those mail pieces look like,” Lee said.

But for people like Heroux, the “ray of hope” was the passage of Amendment 11.

Audrey Hudgens, whose son, William, was sentenced to life in prison at age 21 for committing an armed robbery in the 1990s, said retroactive application of new sentencing laws is her only hope to see her son out of prison. Hudgens said her son was carrying a gun, but never used it. She added that her son committed the crime when he was doing “$300 of cocaine a day,” an addiction he struggled to brush off.

“For 22 years, we have held onto every possibility of hope, including the overwhelming passage of Amendment 11,” Hudgens said in tears. “However, with this bill there is the presumption that future criminal justice reforms will not and should not be retroactive.”

The bill must clear one more Senate committee before it can get a full floor vote. A similar measure is moving forward in the House.

–Ana Ceballos, News Service of Florida

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
You and your neighbors collectively read our articles about 25,000 times each day (that's not a typo) with up to 65,000 daily reads during emergencies like hurricanes. Flagler County residents rely on FlaglerLive for essential, bold and analytical journalism that cannot be found anywhere else. But we depend on your support. Please join our December fund drive! If you donate the cost of a scoop of ice cream, you will be helping us continue to provide comprehensive local news and honest, serious journalism for our community. If you can donate more or become a monthly donor, even better. Donations are tax deductible since FlaglerLive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donate by clicking anywhere in this box. Think of it as buying a scoop, in every sense of the term!  
All donors' identities are kept confidential and anonymous.
   

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Charlie says

    April 2, 2019 at 10:34 am

    What a crock of crap. They did the crime so they have to do the time. Oh but no, they want to release more criminals back onto the streets who are even more violent and anti-society . I call BULLSH*T !

    Reply
  2. Dave says

    April 2, 2019 at 12:49 pm

    Finally something that makes sense! We will be keeping our fingers crossed in Flagler County hoping this bill will pass! It has gone on long enough and we are ready to get our boys and girls home! Let’s stop filling our jails and prisons with non violent offenders!

    Reply
  3. dan haley says

    April 2, 2019 at 6:14 pm

    non violent offender? what about the terror the victims encountered with the presence of a gun..you do the time you do the time PERIOD..hope they move next to you when released!!

    Reply
  4. Pogo says

    April 3, 2019 at 8:17 am

    @Dave

    Our jails and prisons? Since when? Our jails and prisons, like everything else under heaven – including people – are the property of the 1%. The rest of us are no different than any other livestock; you’re born to labor, spend at the company store, and then die and be disposed of by the most expensive funeral possible – after “our” healthcare system squeezes every last cent from your carcass.

    Think you’re not livestock? Are you kidding? From your birth til your death you’re fattened on advertising feedlots with cheap bread, kept in the herd with entertainment that simulates a life, and processed for the benefit of the 1% – while they herd you along with lies about what’s best for US.

    “…The bill (SB 1656), sponsored by Sen. Tom Lee, R-Thonotosassa, would “clarify” Amendment 11 and is backed by Attorney General Ashley Moody. The bill says all criminal statute revisions should apply prospectively unless the Legislature explicitly says they apply to older cases…”

    That, son, is pure Kentucky sippin bullshit. It’s predictable Republican party preemption of democracy, aka anarchy for the 1%, by the 1%.

    All this – and heaven too.

    Reply
  5. Glenda ramjattan says

    February 14, 2020 at 6:35 pm

    I will be happy if this bill passed. My son is doing life for aggravated assult with a deadly weapon, the victim is alive and well. My son was attacked by the victim but because the victim works as a fireman, my son did not stand a chance.

    Reply
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Advertisers

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Laurel on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Jonathan on Mom Arrested After Witnesses Report her Brutalizing Her 7-Year-Old Child on A1A
  • Celia Pugliese on Its Streets Degrading, Palm Coast Looks for Electric Vehicles to Pay Their Fair Share of Road Taxes
  • Deed Nutz on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction
  • R.S. on Its Streets Degrading, Palm Coast Looks for Electric Vehicles to Pay Their Fair Share of Road Taxes
  • b on A Memorial Month for Our Rights
  • pete on Its Streets Degrading, Palm Coast Looks for Electric Vehicles to Pay Their Fair Share of Road Taxes
  • David Schaefer on Its Streets Degrading, Palm Coast Looks for Electric Vehicles to Pay Their Fair Share of Road Taxes
  • Mary Fusco on Palm Coast’s Belk Converted Into One of 16 Outlet Stores as Company Struggles
  • Karen on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Sherry on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Sherry on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Sherry on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • Sherry on I’m Almost 67, I Worked 22 Years With Walmart, Yet Can’t Afford to Retire
  • DaleL on DeSantis Lifts Hold on Killing of Duane Owen as Attorneys Battle Over Competence
  • Steve Vanne on 251-Unit Wilton Apartment Project Breaks Ground in Town Center, Employing 300 During Construction

Log in