Florida Commission on Mental Health issued its interim report calling for major changes in the accessibility and delivery of mental health services and changes to legislation affecting the criminal justice system’s response to arrestees with mental illness. Hon. Ron Ficarrotta, Chief Judge of the 13th Judicial Circuit serves on the Commission and discusses the recommendations.
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WaveMakers: Freddy Barton of Safe and Sound Hillsborough
Freddy Barton, executive director of Safe and Sound Hillsborough, a community-based intervention program intended to prevent violence in Hillsborough County joined WaveMakers on April 19.
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Sarasota Clergy want to create a new adult citation program
Often when people get arrested for minor offenses that arrest stays with them forever. Sarasota religious leaders are seeking alternatives.
WaveMakers: Yvette Lewis, president of Hillsborough NAACP
Yvette Lewis, president of the Hillsborough Chapter for the NAACP, has been a leader in the Black community for nearly 20 years.
Desmond Meade: Next up for Rights Restoration group is “Ban the Box”
In 2018, Desmond Meade helped helped shepherd through passage of Florida’s Amendment 4, which requires automatic restoration of voting rights for felons who complete their sentences. In September, he won a Genius Grant from the MacArthur Foundation. Meade talked to MidPoint about what’s next for the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition.
Tampa’s crime free housing program under scrutiny
Tampa Bay Times reporter Chris O’Donnell talks about his reporting on the Tampa polices department’s crime-free housing program, which remains under fire even after Mayor Jane Castor announced changes to it. t.
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Bipartisan bills address environment, education, robocalls and more
Florida lawmakers introduced more than 3,000 bills in the 2021 legislative sessions, with about 8 percent of them being signed into law. Among them were bills with robust support from both Republican and Democrats. These include everything from making improvements to early education to protecting the environment and putting restrictions on telephone solicitations. State Rep…. Read more »
Legislature did little on criminal justice reform in 2021
In the 2021 legislative session dozens of bills were introduced that would have done everything from shortening the sentences of inmates with good behavior to creating a registry of police misconduct. But barely anything passed. And state lawmakers were shocked when Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed a bill passed with bipartisan support that would have expunged… Read more »
Republican Florida congressional candidate’s murder-for-hire case gets hearing extension
Two Republican congressional candidates embroiled in an alleged murder-for-hire plot had their case postponed until September. Anna Paulina Luna’s temporary restraining order against William Braddock will remain until the case’s new date. LISTEN: The race to fill the soon-to-be-vacant District 13 seat is still more than a year away. But it’s already getting deathly intense…. Read more »
Tampa man gets life for sexual battery, pouring bleach on 10-year-old girl’s genitals
A Tampa man was sentenced to life in prison Monday after being found guilty of sexually battering a 10-year-old girl and pouring bleach on her genitals. LISTEN: A jury in Hillsborough County found 43-year-old Lewis Matthews guilty of four felonies earlier this month. He was convicted of sexual battery on a victim younger than 12;… Read more »
