04 Jan

Friday Editorial: ICARE remains a powerful voice

Posted by in Criminal Justice Reform, ICARE, Public Education Improvement

January 4, 2019. The Florida Times-Union.

The scene for an ICARE meeting is impressive.

There is a sea of people in the church pews, but they aren’t all from one congregation or faith: there are Christians, Jews, Unitarians, Baha’is and more, making up a wonderful human quilt of Jaclsonville.

And the meeting they’re attending in this church won’t take hours: it’s a highly structured one with just a few minutes reserved for every speaker.

It’s appropriate, because ICARE has always been about turning words into real, tangible action.

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26 Jun

Report: Duval poised to be a state leader in juvenile civil citation use

Posted by in Criminal Justice Reform, ICARE, Minority Rights

June 26, 2018. Florida Times-Union.

For years, juvenile justice advocates slammed Duval County for arresting dozens of kids each month who could have avoided court and entanglement in the juvenile justice system altogether if they’d been offered a simple alternative.

But, a new report released Tuesday highlights the upward trend in the last year in that alternative — pre-arrest diversion, also called a civil citation — in the area judicial circuit. The progress followed the signing of a new memorandum of understanding among 22 local agencies, including the State Attorney’s Office of the Fourth Judicial Circuit, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and agencies from Clay and Nassau counties. Now, the report says, Duval County could be among the top-performing counties statewide in 2018.

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30 Apr

Officials support civil citations for Volusia youths committing minor offenses

Posted by in Criminal Justice Reform, FAITH

April 30, 2018. The Daytona Beach News-Journal.

Hundreds and hundreds of eligible Volusia children would no longer be arrested for minor offenses when new legislation justice officials agreed to support Monday night makes it mandatory to issue civil citations instead of handcuffs.

At a packed meeting held by Fighting Against Injustice Toward Harmony (F.A.I.T.H.), a faith-based group, State Attorney R.J. Larizza, Sheriff Mike Chitwood, Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri and Dan Merrithew of the Department of Juvenile Justice, pledged their support to help Volusia’s children.

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17 Apr

Interfaith Group Gets Commitments On Affordable Housing, Civil Citations

Posted by in Affordable Housing, Criminal Justice Reform, HOPE

April 17, 2018. WUSF News.

Elected leaders in Hillsborough County were in the hot seat Monday night, asked to commit on the spot to action on community issues.

More than 1,000 members of the interfaith group Hillsborough Organization for Progress and Equality (HOPE) asked officials for commitments on expanding the civil citation program, creating a local affordable housing trust fund and increased funding for elder care services. The event was part of the groups 2018 Nehemiah Action.

When asked, Hillsborough public defender Julianne Holt, Chief Judge Ronald Ficarrotta and State Attorney Andrew Warren said they will support extending the county’s civil citation program to include second and third misdemeanor offenses by minors.

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20 Mar

Lee County group holding action meeting in hopes to keep kids out of jail

Posted by in Criminal Justice Reform, LIFE

March 20, 2018. ABC 7.

Up to 1,000 people are expected to pack the pews at St. Columbkille Catholic Church Tuesday night for the Seventh Annual Nehemiah Action meeting.

The goal of the meeting is for citizens to confront the county commission and police chiefs from Cape Coral and Fort Myers about keeping children who make minor mistakes out of the criminal justice system.

One local man will share his son’s story. The boy could have been arrested for bringing a toy gun to school, but instead had the opportunity to take part in a diversionary program. Because of that, he was able to go on to play football and graduate.

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