Two bills filed in the Florida legislature this week would eliminate mandatory sentencing for trafficking in marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other controlled substances like methamphetamine. #
The bills were filed by state Rep. Ari Porth, D-Coral Springs, and Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R-Fort Lauderdale, and would benefit nonviolent offenders. #
The Miami Herald reported that, under current law, possession of large amounts of marijuana, cocaine, or heroin is considered trafficking and carries fines as well as minimum prison sentences ranging from three to 25 years. Changes suggested by Bogdanoff and Porth would eliminate the prison time and leave in place fines ranging from $25,000 to $500,000. #
The bills also direct the Department of Corrections to develop a re-entry program for nonviolent offenders that would include intensive substance abuse treatment and rehabilitation. #
The treatment approach for nonviolent offenders is finding support in the Rick Scott administration. #
According to The Palm Beach Post, the governor’s “law and order” team told Scott to cut costs by diverting nonviolent offenders to drug treatment and requiring inmates to get an education and vocational training. #
The Post adds: #
Those actions, which the transition team said could reduce the number of criminals returning to prison and allow the state to stop building new prisons, sound more like past Democratic suggestions than traditional conservative approaches to criminal justice. #
But that’s exactly where Florida may be headed, following a new national movement heralded by conservatives such as Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and William Bennett. #
Gingrich, Norquist, and Bennett are but a few of the conservatives promoting Right on Crime, which heralds “the conservative case for reform: fighting crime, prioritizing victims and protecting taxpayers.” #
