Jeb Bush on Crime Former Republican FL Governor

Conflicted about death penalty; needs reform

BUSH: I'm conflicted. I am. It was the law of the land when I was governor, and I faithfully dealt with it. To be honest with you, it is not a deterrent anymore because it's seldom used. It clogs up the courts, it costs a ton of money. And it's hard for me, as a human being, to sign the death warrant, to be honest with you. I'm informed by my faith in many things, and this is one of them. So I have to admit that I'm conflicted about this. But we should reform it. If it's to be used as a deterrent, it has to be reformed. It can't take 25 years. That does no one any good. Neither the victims nor the state is solving this problem with that kind of tangled judicial process.

Death penalty a tough call, but victims' families benefit

1994: build more prisons; serve longer sentences

One of Bush's central themes during the 1994 campaign was his desire to streamline the execution process for death row inmates. In order to do this, he proposed limiting death row inmates to only one appeal with the state, a measure he hoped would speed up the state's execution process. Bush named his plan "one trial, one appeal," and released it in the spring of 1994.

Enacting the "one trial, one appeal" plan would have required Florida voters to approve an amendment to the state's constitution, but this hurdle didn't dissuade Bush. In November, he reiterated his goal, saying, "I want to accelerate, not slow down, the enforcement of the death penalty in Florida."

1990s: punishment over therapy; 2010s: that hardens people

Bush "does not flip-flop," a Bush adviser said. "He learns. When he learns, he changes." Bush was particularly influenced by the experience of governing: he suddenly had access to measurements of what worked, and what did not, on issues like juvenile justice

Symbol of crime needs a human face on it

The ad, personally approved by Jeb, proved to be a disaster for his campaign. Chiles attacked Jeb directly for it: "All my political life I have supported the death penalty, as governor I have executed 8 men." He wagged his finger at Jeb and said: "You knew [the ad] was false. And I am ashamed that you would use the loss of a mother in an ad like this."

Bush "seemed flustered by the force of Chiles's words and responded weakly that the symbol of crime needs a human face on it."

Passed Habitual Offender Accountability Act

Governor Bush continued to focus support for "get tough on crime" laws. These include a variety of mandatory sentencing laws such as the 10-20-Life Act, the Three Strikes Violent Felony Offender Act, and the Habitual Offender Accountability Act, all passed in the glow of Bush's 1st-term victory. Despite evidence that the 10-20-Life law had no effect on the state's crime rate (Stoddard, 2006) Bush continued into his last year in office to cite these laws as some of the primary accomplishments of his administration.

We are not safe; not in our homes, not anywhere

Jeb understood exactly what he was doing as he was doing it. With crime, for example, statistics showed that the problem was on the decline by the mid-1990s with the improvement in the economy.

"People's fear is heightened beyond what is reasonable," Jeb told the "St. Petersburg Times" in November 1993. So did that keep him from using that fear to his advantage? Not hardly.

"The simple fact is we are not safe. Not in our homes.not anywhere," Jeb said in a speech officially kicking off his campaign a month earlier. And in December, he would tell campaign audiences: "People now cannot walk on their streets without fear of crime!"

1994 TV ad: My opponent won't push electric chair

From the outset, the idea edged toward the boundaries of bad taste: to take advantage of a mother's grief. Nevertheless, Jeb's team thought they had a tough but fair ad. It essentially accused Lawton Chiles of not doing enough to send the killer to the electric chair.

Within days, though, Jeb had to concede that there was nothing Chiles could have done to expedite the death sentence. (In fact, at the time this book went to press, Jeb also had been unable to bring about the killer 's demise; he is alive & well on Death Row.)

Called special legislative session for death penalty law

The reaction to this style of leadership varied, and was not always predictable.

To many, even in the much-reviled press, Jeb was a breath of fresh air. He said what he was going to do, and then he did it, without the mealymouthed games that are so common among elected officials.

Building private prisons would save 15%-20% of state costs

Why did he think this was possible? Well, there was no empirical evidence, other than his deep-seated faith that government is inherently wasteful and that private businesses are inherently both competent and efficient.

Did Jeb really believe that the Department of Corrections staff was so inept that it gave out 15% more on construction contracts than it needed to? Did he think that the prison system, which in 1994 was already overstretched and paying some of the lower wages in state government, was bloated by a full 1/5?

Make sure criminals serve at least 85% of their jail time

I'm a hang-'em-by-the-neck conservative

As chairman of Dade County GOP, Jeb frequently called his father for political favors, and in 1986 he asked George to come to Florida to campaign for Bob Martinez, the Republican candidate for governor.

Jeb's hard-right politics--"I'm a hang-'em-by-the-neck conservative"--and his vociferous support of the contras appealed to his father and boosted Jeb's popularity in the conservative, anti-Communist Hispanic community of Dade County. Jeb's access to fabulously wealthy Cubans made him invaluable to his father's political staff as they prepared their 1988 run for the Bush presidency.

Adopted Three-Strike Violent Felony Offender Act

10-20-Life: Increase mandatory minimum sentences

Effective July 1, 1999, Florida Statutes shall be established to:
• Increase to 10 years the minimum prison term for certain felonies or attempted felonies when the offender possesses a firearm or destructive device during commission of the offense or flight therefrom
• Mandate a 20 year minimum term of imprisonment when the firearm is discharged
• Mandate a minimum term of imprisonment of 25 years to life in prison if someone is injured or killed
• Mandate a minimum term of 3 years for possession of a firearm by a felon
• Mandate that the minimum term of imprisonment be served consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed
• Increase to 15 years the minimum prison term when the offender possesses a semiautomatic firearm and its high-capacity detachable box magazine or a machine gun.
• Mandates that a person shall serve a 3-year prison sentence for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer or person age 65 or older.

Fewer death-row appeals; faster executions

Longer prison terms for gun-toting criminals

Build more prisons; private contracts OK

Supports the following principles concerning prisons:
• Increase state funds for construction of state prisons and for hiring of additional prison staff.
• Support contracting with private sector firms to build and/or manage state prisons.
• Bush says, “While I favor contracting with private firms to build state prisons, I do not support privatization efforts that would cause job losses among or reduce the pay or benefits of Florida’s current corrections officers.”

Alternative sentencing & rehabiliation acceptable

Supports the following principles concerning crimimals:
• Implement penalties other than incarceration for certain non-violent offenders.
• Inform communities when a convicted sex offender moves into the community.
• Increase state funds for programs which rehabilitate and educate inmates during and after their prison sentences.
• Bush says, “I support and have proposed additional funding to expand drug treatment programs for prisoners.”

Supports death penalty

Supports the following principles concerning violent crime:
• End parole for repeat violent felons.
• Support the use of the death penalty.
• Prosecute juveniles who commit murder or other serious violent crimes as adults.
• Maintain electrocution as Florida’s method of execution.

Stricter penalties for drug, sex, & gun offenses

Supports the following principles concerning crime penalties:
• Strengthen penalties and sentences for drug-related crimes.
• Strengthen penalties and sentences for sex offenders.
• Bush says, “I support stricter mandatory sentences for criminals who commit crimes with guns.”

Heinous crimes no longer news: exposure lowers norms

Crime is no longer outrageous to us. We do not put the routine stories of heinous behavior on the front page anymore because they are no longer abnormal. Only the truly outrageous makes the front page. These journalistic decisions should be taken as a warning. Do we now treat our societal dysfunctions as if they were only part of a TV show, surrealistic & out of reach?

Supports flexible federal block grants for crime programs.

The Issue

The major crime issues for the 107th Congress will be:
• reauthorization of the juvenile justice program, which established a block grant to states for prevention and delinquency intervention programs;
• reauthorization of programs in the 1994 crime bill, including the state criminal alien assistance program (SCAAP), a reimbursement program to state and local governments for housing illegal alien prisoners;
• the state prison grants program, formally known as the Violent Offender Incarceration/Truth-in-Sentencing (VOI/TIS) grant program, [where states receive funds based on increasing the percentage of prison sentences actually served]; and
• the Byrne block grant program, a flexible block grant that states use for innovative crime and illegal drug fighting programs.

NGA’s Position

• NGA policy calls for reauthorization of the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act of 1974 (JJDPA) and supports the underlying principles of the act. However, NGA wants some flexibility in the core requirements, e.g., allowing some accidental contact between adults and juveniles; expanding the hours before removal from 24 hours to 48 hours; holding certain incorrigible juveniles in detention; and relaxing the disproportionate minority confinement record keeping process. The Governors urge maximum flexibility to implement the spirit and purpose of the act.
• The Governors support authorization of the juvenile accountability incentive block grant (JAIBG) program.
• The Governors also support reauthorization of SCAAP and seek to raise the reimbursement ratio.
• For the Byrne block grant program, NGA seeks to continue the current program with flexibility.
• For the state prison grants program, NGA seeks to abolish all requirements and have more flexibility, with the state designating the offender population to be served.