Florida Sentencing Schemes
In Florida, there is a complex maze of sentencing schemes that make restructuring the present system a tedious task that ensures an all-encompassing strategy for reform. Admittedly, there is difficulty and challenges in making effective reforms that benefit the public and the over-sentenced inmate respectively.
In times past, sentences have ranged from far too lenient to far too cruel for a civilized society. Florida must find a better way and change its current sentencing scheme away from the mass incarceration ideals that created the warehousing system that has given a false sense of security. It has been a philosophy that has been shown to be detrimental on several different levels.
Excessive and lengthy prison sentences have not been effective and have decimated our society even more than any one individual offender could. We still have over4,000 offenders that are not paroled from a parole system that went out almost 40years ago, from 65% and 85% gain time that really only gives hope to those who did not get more than 20 years,118 mandatory minimums, multiple enhancers and designators mixed in the middle of it all.
The legislature has the tall task of reforming our criminal justice system and will need all the help they can get. We must take what we have learned from the past, and while putting our citizens first and foremost, we must seek new reforms that solve the complex issues that have previously prevented any real reform.
Through Society-First, we wish to lend our voice to help establish the sharpest minds that our society has to offer. We are a platform that allows every solution to be heard and ultimately chosen by the People who are affected the most.
No longer will the legislation have to wonder how to fix the system, because it will be already known how to fix the system. To circumvent the will of the People would go against the very fabric of what has made our country great, so throughSociety-First every politician will be able to fully understand what that will truly is.
We invite all, whether an ex-offender, inmate, family member, victim, church, correctional officer, or simply a citizen to share their personal experience, solutions, or questions concerning all aspects of the criminal justice system.
More Problems
Suicide
In today's prison system, suicide is one of the saddest realities that our world has to offer. The amount of pain, loneliness, and sorrow that can compel someone to take their own life is something that a human being should not ever have to know.
Outdated Parole System
When one thinks about the system that is best equipped in releasing an offender back into society, one would be hard-pressed to find a better one than an effective parole system. An effective parole system gives the best chance to gauge if the offender is ready or not to be released.
The Cost of Life
At Society-First, we wish to shed light on the origin and the impact of Florida's "Life" sentence. As a victim, you may ask, "Why should we care about those who did not care about us?" We recognize this as a compelling argument, but we also recognize that our great country was never meant to play the role of a victim.