Florida leads in sending young people to prison for life without
parole...for nonhomicide crimes.



Florida is unique in this tendency, the figures are alarming. Other
states might do it, but not with the same intensity. There is a case
pending before the Supreme Court in November to address this issue.

The director of a legal aid group who is a lawyer for one of these
juveniles summed up the situation well way down in the article.

"Our argument is not that these kids can't be punished, can't be sent to
prison for a very long time," Stevenson said. "But to make a judgment
that their sentences can never be reviewed for possible release is
inconsistent with how we deal with kids in virtually ever other context."


Florida Stands Apart in Sentencing of Juveniles

Records indicate that Florida has sent far more juvenile criminals to
prison for the rest of their lives for nonmurder crimes than have all
other states combined. Florida has sentenced 77 young men to spend their
lives in prison, without any chance of release, based on nonhomicide
crimes they committed when they were 17 or younger, according to a
preliminary study by Florida State University researchers. Six of those
prisoners were 13 or 14 at the time of their crimes.

A Herald-Tribune review of state records shows that in Florida, some
juveniles were given life without parole for as few as one or two
convictions of nonhomicidal crimes.


Other findings about the sentences:

Only Florida has sent juvenile criminals away for life for burglary,
battery and carjacking. Twenty-four of the 77 juvenile lifers were
convicted for burglary, like Graham. Forty-six juveniles in Florida were
given life for armed robbery.

"Florida's practice of sentencing juvenile offenders to life without
parole for nonhomicide cases is unique among American states," said the
preliminary research report directed by Paolo Annino, an FSU law
professor who heads the school's Public Interest Law Center.


Why is it happening in Florida?

The state has made it easier to try juveniles as adults, while at the
same time increasing the potential penalties for many crimes. Currently,
Florida judges have the power to impose a life sentence without parole
for more than 50 crimes. Many of the changes came in the 1990s, when
Florida was hit with a highly publicized crime wave, including the
killings of nine tourists in 1992 and 1993. A British tourist was killed
during a robbery by a group of juveniles at an Interstate 10 rest stop
in 1993 that drew international press attention.


Florida is known for harsh sentences for people of all ages, though.
Some are totally over the line.

Harsh sentences given out in Florida

One example I have mentioned before is the work-release inmate who
smuggled eight cans of beer into prison on Christmas Eve and was
sentenced to serve an extra 15 years.

John E. Powell, 43 years old, who had been serving a sentence at the
Lakeland Correctional Institution for bad checks and robbery, would have
been eligible for parole next January. But on Monday, Judge J. Dale
Durrance added 15 years to his sentence.


Of course there is a way out if you know the right people in law
enforcement.

Overseeing the pretrial intervention program of the Polk State
Attorney's Office, Arley Smith had the power to decide who violated
conditions of the program and went to prison.

Smith got caught on tape giving one of his charges money and telling her
that she could pay him back with weekly sex. It would be the "same
situation" he'd had with other young women, he confided, unaware that
this woman's step*father was a cop who had arranged for her to wear a wire.

With the recording of the sex-for-money deal in hand, the Lakeland
police went to the Polk state attorney and said they wanted to continue
surveillance of Smith and charge him. An assistant state attorney
agreed, saying he saw a clear crime.

But State Attorney Jerry Hill balked, worrying aloud that Smith — a
close friend who had worked in his office for more than 20 years — may
have been entrapped and could lose his pension. A few days later, the
police chief ordered the undercover surveillance stopped.