Legislature, under pressure, agrees to kill juvenile boot camps

BRENT KALLESTAD

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Florida lawmakers agreed Wednesday to scrap the state's military-style juvenile boot camp system after a three-month beating from opponents angered by the death of a teenage inmate.

The furor following the Jan. 6 death of 14-year-old Martin Lee Anderson had already resulted in the resignation of the state's top law enforcement official, a protest march on the Capitol and a second autopsy authorized by his family in an effort to disprove a medical examiner's finding he died from sickle cell trait, a normally benign blood condition.

In finalizing their agreement, House and Senate negotiators tacked on another $32.6 million at the last minute to fund the new program, increasing juvenile justice spending to nearly $699.5 million for the fiscal budget year beginning July 1 if approved by the full Legislature.

"Unfortunately it has taken the death of a young man to get to this point," said Rep. Gus Barreiro, a Miami Beach Republican who chairs the House Juvenile Justice Appropriations Committee. "There has never been an increase like that."

Under the agreement, the state's remaining four boot camps in Manatee, Martin, Polk and Pinellas counties would be replaced with STAR, an acronym for Sheriff's Training and Respect. Sheriffs, who ran the boot camps, also will operate the newly designed $10.5 million program.

"Now there won't be any more children being abused while in the custody of the state," said attorney Ben Crump, who is representing Anderson's parents in a lawsuit against the Bay County Sheriff's office, which operated the camp where their son collapsed, and the state Department of Juvenile Justice. "It is something good to have a legacy knowing that his death wasn't in vain."

So many questions surrounded so many facets of the case that Gov. Jeb Bush requested a special prosecutor to reinvestigate the case. He requested the follow-up autopsy. The results of both are expected soon.

"It is such a weird history we have in our state," said state Sen. Frederica Wilson, an outspoken critic of the original investigation "Every time we have an incident like this, then we clean up."

With sheriff's offices still running the camps, there are questions about how much of the newly named program might be window dressing.

"The principles of the boot camp are still there," Bush said Wednesday. "It's not called a boot camp anymore and there's additional funding."

In the old system, the teenagers were rousted from bed by 5 a.m. and exercised before breakfast and class time, subjected at times to verbal harassment or the threat of vigorous exercise if a guard deemed them to be out of line.

The STAR program will largely reflect Martin County's three-tiered, yearlong program that focuses on self-esteem and follow-up care and prohibits physical interaction between guards and children.

Youngsters who come into the system now must receive a physical by a registered nurse upon entering and leaving any facility. They will also have a hot line number available to make complaints about any unnecessary abuse from guards.

The handling of the Anderson investigation led to the protest march to the Capitol last week that was attended by the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, an overnight sit-in at Bush's office and the resignation of Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell.

Tunnell opened the Panama City boot camp when he served as Bay County sheriff and was criticized for sending e-mails to the current sheriff knocking those who questioned its effectiveness.