Topic: Juvenile Justice

The proposal was in response to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found life sentences for juveniles to be unconstitutional.

Florida is rethinking how to rescue teens caught in a web of human traffickers. A House committee proposed a system of "a continuum of care" which includes a locked safe house for victims. Opponents say that inflicts further abuse on the teens and the Senate is rethinking the idea.

The House Health Family Subcommittee is developing a wide-ranging bill to rescue teen runaways and homeless kids from an underground sex industry. The chair of the committee, Rep. Gayle Harrell, said the cost could be astronomical but she's working on funding a program. "This is a priority of the Speaker," said Harrell.

Researchers are looking for family members of boys who died. Official records indicated 31 burials at the north Florida site of a former reform school with a history of abuse.

A court decision effectively reducing payments to the agency from counties for juvenile detention center stays is the main contributor to a $54.5 million budget hole. ... Related Research: Sept. 12, 2013 Joint Legislative Budget Commission meeting packet, a letter and judicial opinion.

USF anthropologists begin research on the grounds of the now-closed Arthur G. Dozier School, a state juvenile correctional institution known for brutality.

A video indicating a police officer punched a teen girl in the face and other reports of abuse of mentally ill teens have prompted a call for legislative hearings. A public defender said the facility, " . . . is simply tying down and knocking out (with medication) little girls."

The Miami-based group of young adults released a package of proposals and announced a voter registration drive to support like-minded candidates. Dreamers want a repeal of the "stand your ground" law and call for the end of zero-tolerance policies in public schools. ... Related Research: Dream Defenders handouts on "stand your ground" and Florida's school-to-prison pipeline.

Sen. Stephen Wise says the end of zero tolerance in 2009 probably has something to do with the big drop in the number of juvenile offenders entering the system, which is down 11 percent over last year.

More than 700 people will lose their jobs when the Department of Juvenile Justice closes several facilities this summer. The Marianna School for Boys, which has been associated with reports of abuse since it opened in 1900, will finally shut down.