Gov. Rick Scottās transition team outlined a plan to cut prison spending while also, over the long run, reducing crime, but state lawmakers this week expressed concern over whether prison reform would lead to politicians being labeled soft on crime.
Scottās plan centers around allowing first-time offenders to become productive members of society, rather than confining them to long sentences in prisons that can serve as ācrime collegesā and turn them into hardened criminals.
āThere are some we just canāt help,ā Dominic Calabro of Florida Tax Watch told the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, saying the key is to allow judges broad discretion to reduce prison terms and supplement them with job training, mental health counseling, treatment for drug addictions and other programs that are cheaper than prison but more likely to keep minor criminals from becoming more serious or repeat offenders.
This week, Florida lawmakers heard from a legislator who tried some of those things in Texas, and according to the St. Petersburg Times, they worried about how these reforms would play politically:
Sen. Greg Evers, R-Baker, and Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, asked if such measures prompt criticism of being soft on crime.
Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, said Florida lawmakers considered some of Maddenās suggestions in the past, but āitās politically difficult to do.ā Madden said that shouldnāt be the case.
Image matters, and if Scott wants to save money over the short term and reduce crime over the long term as his transition team recommended, his success may hinge on salesmanship. There is a push underway to re-brand criminal justice reform to make it credible among conservatives.
