MINIMUM MANDATORY SENTENCES .....

THE CAPTAIN REPORTS:

MIN MANS ........... CAN'T LIVE WITH THEM ... CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT THEM

More than a few times on this BLOG, our founder, Horace Rumpole, has written on his feelings about minimum mandatory sentences.  You can read those posts here and here and
here and here and here and here and here and even as far back as July 30, 2010 found here.

On Wednesday, Governor Scott and the Florida Cabinet held their quarterly Clemency Meeting in Tallahassee.  The Clemency Board is made up of Governor Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater.

The Governor and members of the Cabinet collectively are the Clemency Board. Clemency is an act of mercy that absolves the individual upon whom it is bestowed from all or any part of the punishment that the law imposes.

Article IV, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution provides that an executive order granting clemency requires the signature of the Governor and two members of the Florida Cabinet.

So, to be clear, nobody can receive clemency in Florida without the support of the Governor.

For those interested in reading the Rules of Executive Clemency, you can find them here.

On Wednesday, Orville "Lee" Wollard, sought clemency from Rick Scott.  In short order, Gov. Scott denied Wollard's request without the other three members of the Board even having a chance to weigh in on the matter.  Wollard was sentenced to 20 years in prison, under the 10-20-Life law, for committing an Aggravated Assault with a Firearm, (and discharging that Firearm), but hitting nothing more than a wall, in his home.  The case was dubbed the "Warning Shot" case. 

Lee Wollard was a family man who was living with his wife and two teenage daughters in Central Florida.  He worked for Sea World.  He was educated, earning an AA, a BA, and then a Masters degree in Business Management and Organizational Behavior, all the while working full time and attending night school.  On the date of the crime, Wollard's daughter's boyfriend attacked his daughter giving her a black eye.  He then attacked Wollard.  He left the house, only to return and confront Wollard again.  This time Wollard got his gun, and told the boy to leave his home.  The boy punched a hole in the wall and came at Wollard.  At that point Wollard, instead of shooting the boy, fired a warning shot into the wall.  You can read the entire history of the case here.

As for the Clemency case, it was covered by the Tampa Bay Times: "Wollard, 60, of Davenport, a former human resources specialist at Sea World, is almost midway through a 20-year term for firing a warning shot at his teenage daughter's boyfriend at his Polk County home in 2008 after the youth attacked him and tried to tear off his stitches. Under sentencing laws -- since changed by Scott and the Legislature -- the crime of aggravated assault with a firearm carried a minimum mandatory term of 20 years."

The article went on to say: "The Legislature last year cited Wollard's case when it rewrote state law to provide criminal immunity in cases of the threatened use of force. But the law was not retroactive, so it doesn't apply to Wollard's case. Rep. Neil Combee, R-Polk City, said Wednesday that he didn't understand why prosecutor Hill was so adamant about keeping Wollard imprisoned when he had offered him a plea deal of five years felony probation."

Yes, you read that correctly.  The plea offer in the case was Five Years Probation.  But, when Wollard rejected the plea offer and took his chances with the jury, his gamble did not pay off.  They found him Guilty as Charged and the sentencing Judge had no choice - he had to sentence Wollard to the mandatory 20 years in prison.

You can read the entire sad story here. 

Governor Scott had the ability to right a wrong here, but chose instead, the easy way out.  He showed no mercy to Lee Wollard.

ELECTION CENTRAL UPDATE .....

As I reported in the Comments section earlier this week, a new candidate has filed to run for Judge in 2016. He is Luis Perez-Medina. He has been a member of the Florida Bar for nine years. He has filed to run for Circuit Court Judge. He has filed in Group 34, a seat being vacated by the retirement of Judge Gill Freeman. Two other candidates have already filed to run in that Group including Renee Gordon and Denise Martinez-Scanziani.

UPDATED: We apologize for getting Mr. Perez-Medina's name wrong.  FYI, Mr. Perez-Medina was a DC in Cueto, Sigler, and Hendon.  He is currently assigned to the Public Corruption Unit.

Who is Luis Perez-Medina?  If you know anything about this veteran of the State Attorney's Office, please chime in.

Currently there are five contested elections including four in Circuit Court and one race in County Court.  There are also four sitting Circuit Court judges up for reelection in 2016 that have not yet filed indicating their intention to run again.  They include Judge Scott Bernstein, Judge Rosa Rodriguez, Judge Nushin Sayfie, and Judge John Schlesinger.  We have communicated with three of the four judges, all but Rosa Rodriguez, and each of the three judges have told us that they intend to file for reelection.  In County Court, incumbent judges up for reelection in 2016 that have not yet filed include Judges Wendell Graham, Judith Rubenstein, and Fred Seraphin.  Only Judge Graham has confirmed to us his intention to run; we have not yet heard back from the other two judges.

And to take you into the weekend, we leave you with a scene from one of our all-time favorite movies, and one of the classic cross-exams of all time: MAGIC GRITS



CAPTAIN OUT .....
Captain4Justice@gmail.com

MERCY: CLEMENCY

The quality of mercy is not strained; It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest; It blesseth him that gives and him that takes: 'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes The throned monarch better than his crown: His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, The attribute to awe and majesty, Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings; But mercy is above this sceptred sway; It is enthronèd in the hearts of kings, It is an attribute to God himself; And earthly power doth then show likest God's When mercy seasons justice. 
The Merchant of Venice.

The NY Times Op Ed Piece here on the Presidential power of clemency:

The constitutional provision that gives the president virtually unlimited authority to grant clemency was not an afterthought. The founders understood very well that there could be miscarriages of justice even under the rule of law. By allowing the president to commute unjust sentences or pardon deserving petitioners who had served their time, they sought to ensure that the workings of the courts could be tempered with mercy.
...

The perpetual punishment model of justice has had far-reaching consequences. Politicians stayed as far away from clemency as they could, fearing that voters would view them as soft on crime. Meanwhile, at the Justice Department, the clemency process — which had been a cabinet-level responsibility — fell under the authority of prosecutors who seemed to view even reasonable lenience as a threat to the prosecutorial order. The time required to handle clemency applications went from months to years; the backlog grew; the stream of mercy that had once flowed began to dry up.

The clemency system, in other words, is in a state of collapse. But the concept of mercy went out of fashion by the 1980s, when the country embarked on a mandatory sentencing craze that barred judges from exercising leniency when it was clearly warranted and placed the justice system almost entirely in the hands of prosecutors. As a consequence, even first-time offenders were largely viewed as beyond redemption.

These laws drove up the prison population 10-fold and filled the jails with young, low-level drug offenders who were confined far longer than their offenses warranted. They also created a large and growing class of felons, who are trapped permanently at the margins of society by postprison sanctions — laws that bar them from jobs and housing, strip them of the right to vote and make it difficult for them to obtain essential documents like driver’s licenses.

The perpetual punishment model of justice has had far-reaching consequences. Politicians stayed as far away from clemency as they could, fearing that voters would view them as soft on crime. Meanwhile, at the Justice Department, the clemency process — which had been a cabinet-level responsibility — fell under the authority of prosecutors who seemed to view even reasonable lenience as a threat to the prosecutorial order. The time required to handle clemency applications went from months to years; the backlog grew; the stream of mercy that had once flowed began to dry up.

The clemency system, in other words, is in a state of collapse.

Rumpole says: For too long Congress and state legislatures and Representatives and Governors and Senators have engaged in the unseemly and struthious like spectacle  of hiding their heads in the sand while tens of thousands of Americans were sentenced to life altering minimum mandatory sentences for minimal and non-violent drug activities. 

Stop the madness. 

See You In Court.

THE SLEDGEHAMMER JUSTICE OF MIN MAN SENTENCES

UPDATE: Miami Herald editorial slams Senator Rubio for freezing Judge Thomas's nomination to the federal bench:

The nomination of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge William Thomas to fill a federal judicial vacancy is illustrative. Mr. Thomas, if confirmed, would become the first openly gay black man to serve on a federal bench. After first recommending him, Sen. Rubio withdrew support, citing concern over two rulings — even though a prosecutor whom the judge ruled against in one case wrote the senator in support of Judge Thomas. Mr. Rubio’s office points out that he has supported some of President Obama’s judicial picks; critics say opposition to Judge Thomas is rooted in anti-gay politics.

As 2016 approaches, the presidential campaign will pick up speed. Given Sen. Rubio’s obvious political appeal, he should be a strong contender for his party’s nomination if he chooses to run, but his political calculus should not require support for an agenda that does not fit the needs of a large, diverse state like Florida.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/12/21/3830328/rightward-shift.html#storylink=cpy

UPDATE: A chance conversation led us to ponder the best books of 2013 that we read and the Greatest American Novels of all time. Regarding the GAN(oat) we quickly picked the top two, which got us working on this list. We will post it over the weekend/next week. One pending controversy,  Hemingway may not make the list. 
What say you? 

Conservative columnist George Will joins the drumbeat of voices against minimum mandatory sentences. Will highlights the great Judge John Gleeson's  (EDNY) criticism of the minimum mandatory sentencing laws in the Washington Post here.
(Santa cap tip to DOM's SDFLA blog.)

Quiet last weeks of the year,  court wise.