Reform needed in criminal justice system
“In a perfect criminal justice system, those who break the law would be punished, rehabilitated and released to live productive crime-free lives. The punishment would fit the crime and the crime rate would go down.
In Florida we do not have a perfect system. We don’t even have a good system. We have good people but our process is disjointed, convoluted and contrary to the intended objectives.”
Paula Dockery, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST
Read the full article at: http://tallahasseedemocrat.fl.newsmemory.com/publink.php?shareid=0b4b776bb
Reformers had intuited what more than a century of research and experience now confirms: keeping kids out of the criminal justice system makes them less likely to break the law a second time, particularly when they get effective services that address the root causes of their behavior.
David LaBahn, President, Association of Prosecuting Attorneys
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/sep/16/us-courts-still-shackle-children-minor-crimes
This highly influential bi-partisan group has as one of its key issues lobbying for reform that will reduce the collateral damage of having an arrest record.
We all need to join in this effort!
Law enforcement agencies should consider adopting preferences for seeking ‘least harm’ resolutions, such as diversion programs or warnings and citations in lieu of arrest for minor infractions.
President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing
[www.cops.usdoj.gov/pdf/taskforce/taskforce_finalreport.pdf]
The ABA urges states to implement civil citation programs for non-violent, minor misdemeanors to promote judicial efficiency and save taxpayer money.
American Bar Association [www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/criminal_justice/spip_civilcitations.authcheckdam.pdf]
Broward County may be following in Miami-Dade’s footsteps when it comes
to pot possession. A little more than a week after Miami-Dade started
exploring the idea of issuing fines for people who have marijuana, the
Broward commission is now looking into it as well.
BROWARD COUNTY, FL - Broward County Commissioners have agreed to consider a future ordinance that could reduce the punishment for misdemeanor marijuana possession. Under the initial proposal, law enforcement officers would have the option of issuing a misdemeanor civil citation punishable by a $100 fine or make an arrest if a person is caught with twenty grams of marijuana or less in Broward County.
Why Broward County is considering this and what the civil citations can do for their police department is discussed.
Photo: Robert Labelle
Coordinator, Civil CItation program for the Broward County Human Services Department
Last year in Broward County, there were 2,858 first-time juvenile
offenders,
with a criminal record, dealing with the Department of Juvenile Justice
and the local criminal court system. Now, with recent state
legislation, juvenile offenders have the opportunity to participate in a
new Civil Citation Program for Juveniles, a collaborative partnership
between law enforcement officials and the County’s Human Services
Department.
Last year in Broward County, there were 2,858 first-time juvenile
misdemeanor offenders. Each of these youth came into contact with the
criminal juvenile justice system and the end result was a criminal
record.
There is no proof that the zero-tolerance policing adopted by New York
and other cities in the 1990’s had anything to do with the decline in
violent crime across the nation. Crime also dropped in jurisdictions
that did not use the approach.
Over the past 40 years, criminal justice policy in the U.S. was shaped
by the belief that the best way to protect the public was to put more
people in prison. Offenders, the reasoning went, should spend longer and
longer time behind bars.
Here’s a good video overview of Civil Citation from the source. Includes Tallahassee Police Department officials and DISC Village CEO Tom Olk, VP Jordan Cowart.