100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future, by Marco Rubio: on Crime

Marco Rubio: Collect DNA of those convicted of sexually deviant behavior

Expand the dangerous sexual felony offender law
Expand DNA collection by 2012 to include all those convicted of felony offenses and those who have exhibited a propensity for sexually deviant behavior through commission of specified misdemeanor offenses
Enact laws to deny registered sex offenders and stalkers access to popular Internet networking sites
Increase the risk and penalties for those engaged in the business of promoting sex crimes
Afford whistleblower status to everyone who reports sex crimes, even if they were involved in the act
Increase funding for additional law enforcement resources to combat gang activities
Increase the numbers of specialized prosecutors & gang-related law enforcement officers, and establish training programs for them to develop better methods to combat gang and hate group activity
Curb Endless Appeals by Convicted Felons
Limit the time convicted felons have to appeal their sentences

Source: 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future by Marco Rubio Nov 1, 2006

Marco Rubio: Mandatory life sentence for repeat sex offenders

Convicted sexual criminals consistently display four times higher recidivism rates than those convicted of other crimes. Florida law enforcement officials currently collect DNA samples from people convicted of certain felony offenses. Florida has not expanded the database to include samples from all convicted felons. However, many times those convicted of felonies have prior misdemeanor convictions that signal the likelihood that they will commit more serious crimes.

[We should] toughen prison sentences to keep Florida's children safe from sexual predators, and expand DNA collection to include all felony offenses and sexually deviant misdemeanors. Florida should expand the dangerous sexual felony offender law to that all second-time sex offenders are subject to a minimum 20-year sentence. The act will also provide a mandatory life sentence for all third-time offenders. It will also allow misdemeanor sex offenses to be enhanced to felonies and apply the enhanced penalties to those crimes

Source: 100 Innovative Ideas, by Marco Rubio, p. 65-66 Nov 1, 2006

Marco Rubio: Endless death row appeals hinder justice

Problem: Endless appeals by convicted felons postpone a sense of finality and erode public confidence in the judicial system. Even in the simplest of criminal cases, post-conviction litigation frequently continues for a minimum of 3 years. In death penalty cases the post-conviction process averages 12 years, but in some cases it has consumed up to 20 years before a warrant is signed. With over 370 inmates on death row in Florida, delays of this nature hinder justice for the victims and erode public confidence in Florida's criminal justice system. Very few inmates receive actual relief from the current cumbersome, time-consuming, and expensive process.

Solution: Streamline the appeals process in criminal cases. Florida should create a new, more efficient, less expensive process for reviewing criminal cases that instills more public confidence in the criminal justice system. This could be accomplished by limiting the time convicted felons have to appeal their sentences.

Source: 100 Innovative Ideas, by Marco Rubio, p. 74-75 Nov 1, 2006

The above quotations are from 100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future, by Marco Rubio. Click here for definitions & background information on Crime. Click here for other issues (main summary page). Click here for more quotes by Marco Rubio on Crime. Click here for more quotes by Chris Dodd on Crime.
*Candidates and political leaders on Crime:*
*Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:* GA:Chambliss(R) IA:Harkin(D) MI:Levin(D) MT:Baucus(D) NE:Johanns(R) OK:Coburn(R) SD:Johnson(D) WV:Rockefeller(D) *Resigned from 113th House:* AL-1:Jo Bonner(R) FL-19:Trey Radel(R) LA-5:Rod Alexander(R) MA-5:Ed Markey(D) MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R) NC-12:Melvin Watt(D) SC-1:Tim Scott(R)	*Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:* AR-4:Tom Cotton(R) GA-1:Jack Kingston(R) GA-10:Paul Broun(R) GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R) HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D) IA-1:Bruce Braley(D) LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R) ME-2:Mike Michaud(D) MI-14:Gary Peters(D) MT-0:Steve Daines(R) OK-5:James Lankford(R) PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D) TX-36:Steve Stockman(R) WV-2:Shelley Capito(R)	*Retired House as of Jan. 2015:* AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R) AR-2:Tim Griffin(R) CA-11:George Miller(D) CA-25:Howard McKeon(R) CA-33:Henry Waxman(D) CA-45:John Campbell(R) IA-3:Tom Latham(R) MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R) NC-6:Howard Coble(R) NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D) NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R) NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D) NY-21:Bill Owens(D) PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R) UT-4:Jim Matheson(D) VA-8:Jim Moran(D) VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org! Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Nov 29, 2018