Saturday, November 07, 2009
Advocates Tackle Justice Reform in Florida
Florida’s prison population now exceeds 100,000 inmates. The system is overwhelmed and the state cannot afford the $100 million it costs to build another prison, let alone the additional $25 million in recurring costs to operate it annually.
A group of some of the state’s most experienced and esteemed officials have created the Coalition for Smart Justice. The Coalition partnered with the Collins Center for Public Policy and issue an open letter to the Governor and state Legislature urging reform of the justice system. The letter was signed a slew of recognized experts, including Jim McDonough (Florida’s Secretary of the Department of Corrections from 2006-2008), former state Attorneys General Richard Doran, Jim Smith and Robert Butterworth, Parker Thomson (Chairman of the Collins Center for Public Policy), David Murrell (Executive Director of the Florida Police Benevolent Association), Barney Bishop (President and Chief Executive Officer of Associated Industries of Florida), Chris Holley (Executive Director of the Florida Association of Counties), Dominic Calabro (President and Chief Executive Officer of Florida Tax Watch).
On November 16-18, the Coalition and Collins Center are hosting Justice Summit 2009 in Tampa, Florida. The Summit will feature nationally recognized speakers, including Senator Jim Webb (Virginia), State Representative Jerry Madden (Texas) and Adam Gelb, Director of the Pew Charitable Trust’s Public Safety Performance Project, as well as a veritable who’s who of Florida policy makers. View the agenda at http://www.collinscenter.org/resource/resmgr/smart_justice/summit_agenda_final_2.pdf.
This conference will serve as a call to action and challenge participants to help create ways to improve the justice system through better use of community corrections programs.
You can learn more about the effort and obtain information about the Summit at http://www.collinscenter.org/event/justicesummit.
NPAMC strongly supports these and other efforts designed to address offenders’ alcohol, drug and mental health issues in smart and efficient ways that promote rehabilitation, better protect the public and save tax dollars. Kudos to these public officials for taking an aggressive stance and tackling the issues head on.
