LAWMAKERS: CHANGE THE LAW

To our lawmakers in Tallahassee, Florida, now's the time to change the law.

We the People demand that our lawmakers delete the following words from Chapter 947.135(2)(d) F.S:

"However, no offender will be eligible to participate in this program who was sentenced as an habitual felony offender pursuant to s.775.084 or who was convicted of a capital or life felony as provided by s.775.081, s.775.082, or s.775.083. Offenders meeting eligibility criteria may be offered the opportunity to participate in the program which will include a parole date."

There are many misconceptions regarding parole in the state of Florida. Many prisoners believe that they can apply for parole; while others believe that there are no parole eligible inmates left within the prison system. There are no mechanisms for inmates to "apply for parole eligilbility" in the state of Florida. Inmates are determined eligible or ineligible for parole consideration based on when their offense was committed.

Since parole ended in 1983 for most offenders and in 1995 for capital felony offenders, there is growing sentiment that three decades of no parole have gone too far for too long at too great a price-enough is enough! Justification for changing the law follows that the Florida Parole Commission (FPC) spends only 12% of it's time on parole related matters even though current statistics show a 93% success rate for those who are finally paroled.

Before 1983 the FPC would require a prisoner serving a life sentence to serve 10-15 years. After 1983 it started requiring longer periods of time. Currently, there are 100's of prisoners that have served close or over 30 years and the FPC will not parole these prisoners, for all practical purpose, these are political prisoners. There are approximately 5,107 inmates who are eligible for parole consideration. On July 1,2013, there were 444 parolees on supervision. In FY 2012-2013, 22 inmates were granted parole. Current statistics show that prisoners who have been incarcerated for 25 or more years and 50 years and older pose no threat to society and recidivism rate when finally released is slim to none. Bottom line, "there is no elderly crime wave, only misguided public fear."

The Pew Center on Research has estimated that the cost of managing an elderly prisoner is approximately $70,000.00 annually. The 19,600 elderly offenders in prison on June 30,2013 represented 19.4% of the total inmate population. Florida has a higher percentage of elderly inmates than many other states, in part because there is no possibility of parole for crimes committed after 1983. The Mutual Participation Program Act of F.S.947.135 (MPPA) more commonly known as "Contract Parole" would change that by paroling more deserving and qualified elderly rehabilitated offenders while also ensuring the protection of the citizens in our state and the successful re-entry of the offender into society. This Statue has been on the books since 1976 and has lain dormant since the late 1980's. In fact, many inmates and most Florida Department of Corrections (FDOC) employees and Classification officers has never heard of Contract Parole.

The legislative intent of the MPPA is to involve the FDOC and the FPC in program planning with the eligible offenders to establish criteria enabling release by parole and release from parole. This procedure is designed to demand accountability of eligible inmates for their release and to continue that upswing after release while promoting self-reform and responsibilty. The overall objective is to open the doors of freedom to a better person than the one who entered decades earlier.

A simple deletion in Florida Statue 947.135(2)(d) will save taxpayers millions annually. At the same time, it would make parole equitable by offering more qualified elderly rehabilitated offenders not eligible under current law an opportunity to participate in the program. There is no benefit to society in having older inmates (who have served substantial portions of there sentence) incarcerated regardless of what the crime and sentence was. It is a big expense for government; an emotional cost to the victim; victim's family and inmate's family; and provides no useful utility to society.

Keeping rehabilitated offenders locked away might make sense to die-hards seeking maximum retribution or politicians seeking political cover, but it has little effect on public safety. For the last 3 decades, this state has relentlessly expanded the size of our prison system, needlessly throwing away to many salvageable lives. We cannot write off those we have already failed.

It all begins with us. We must fight for lawful reintegration alternatives and must stand against laws that failed to build ladders of opportunity. Floridians deserve and demand better solutions from our state elective officers because for those on the lower end of the social and economic ladder, this is the issue that drives voters to vote people in and out of office this coming mid-term election. The self serving status quo and hidden agendas in Tallahassee just isn't working. It's time for Florida lawmakers to turn the page of old and write the next new chapter in the book of law. Demanding change in a statue that's been on the books since the mid 70's is the legal and right thing to do.

The Florida Lifers Association believe every individual has a right to rehabilitation, and then to have the opportunity for responsible reintergration. We have a commitment to those people, and we hold ourselves accountable for that commitment.

Be a game changer. Join our movement for change today and encourage your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues to sign this online petition and we'll ensure it gets to Tallahassee, so our voices can be heard.

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Email: fllifersassoc@gmail.com or Facebook.com/Florida Lifers Assoc