The criminal justice system has been the subject of several
conversations lately at meetings of the Escambia County Commission. We play a small role locally; we run the jail
and have the road camp. We also have a
corrections department that supervises prisoners in our jail, and we have
county probation officers that supervise released offenders from the county
court.
But the lion’s share of the criminal justice “system” takes
place in the community and involves others--the courts, the sheriff’s office,
and those involved in the system (judges, prosecuting attorneys, defense
attorneys, victims, and the accused)
So we have topically discussed ways we can help the
system. Some commissioners believe that
generational poverty combined with diminished employment opportunities for some
in the area is the biggest issue contributing to the high crime rate. Others think that engaging the youth of the
community is a key-and I don’t disagree with this. But more important than engaging the
community or anything else for that matter, I believe that focusing on
rebuilding families is a must; strong families make strong communities. And those that minimize the drug problem
locally and its impact on violent crime are naïve—there is a huge drug problem
locally that generates lots of crime, lots of violence, and lots of murders. I know this first hand as a 10 year school
board member who has seen lots of classified files on students who found
themselves involved in drugs and crimes—many of whom were expelled from school
for these transgressions. I know the
violence that goes part and parcel with the illegal drug trade because I talk to
people intimately familiar with the system and the cases. Drugs and the drug trade go hand in hand with
violence, and many that deal in drugs locally end up dead. Others end up in the criminal justice system.
So how do we make the system better--how do we as County Commissioners help stop the carnage?
This question will be a tough one to answer. But even strong families with parents that
have good jobs sometimes have children that end up in the system, as is the
case of the following individual that I’m going to describe. Here is a story from the criminal justice
system locally that describes the violence associated with the illegal drug
trade in Escambia County.
Recently, a story involving one man from a middle class
family made news. Now, this individual
at age 35 had racked up dozens of charges and he had been incarcerated prior to
his latest arrest—despite the fact that his father had a good job as a
department head with a local
government
agency. This person was described
in the paper as a known “gang member.”
This person has now been arrested for murdering another individual out
in Beulah, out near where I live. This
person was out on bail for serious charges, including drug and weapons
possession charges, when he was involved in this murder for which he was
arrested, a murder that many associated with the crime have characterized as a
drug deal gone bad.
Who was his victim?
Well, the victim in this instance had a lengthy criminal record
himself, lots of charges, traffic infractions, weapons possessions, drug
possession, several of which were not prosecuted. He had recently been convicted of a felony
and sentenced to a long stretch in State prison by a local conservative Circuit
Court Judge. Once convicted and
sentenced, he did what many other prisoners that have been convicted and
sentenced do. He filed a “3850” (Florida
Rules of Criminal Procedure 3.850) and received a new trial from a local Liberal
Circuit Court judge. The “hail Mary” pass was caught in the end-zone and this
prisoner was granted a new trial. At the
new trial, this individual was, inexplicably, found to be not guilty, and he
was released.
Fast forward just a few weeks from his release and his
second chance at getting his life on track, and this individual was (allegedly)
back dealing in drugs again.
And then he crossed paths with the 35 year-old known gang
member from a middle class family.
What happened next?
The prisoner who won his release on the 3.850 ended up dead
in a ditch on the side of a road out in the country. And the 35 year old known drug dealer from a
middle class family is back in jail.
This time for murder.
It’s such a sad story, yet the media locally didn’t scratch
the surface with their topical coverage.
The liberal media have no problem excoriating conservative
judges who lecture probation violators, even when such judges give offenders
that show promise a second chance.
But the liberal media won’t look at this real life story
that just happened right here in Pensacola-a story of how a fellow liberal, this one a judge,
found a way to give a prisoner a second trial leading to this prisoners’
eventual release. Sadly, this individual
who was so fortunate to be released apparently could not overcome his criminal
ways, and sadly he ended up dead on the side of a bucolic country road.
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