The majority of first-time offenders have been in county jail, and only a few of them are first-time drug possession offenders. The reform push was driven based on ungrounded opinions that prisons are full of people locked up for drug-related issues. Prison occupancy and incarceration rates have drastically dropped by double digits in recent years, and so, talking about overpopulated jails is not a valid argument. 

A Flagler County Sheriff, who was shot three times on July 31, 1978, shared his experience with a shooter who had been released after only serving 40% of his original jail time. After his release, he committed many additional crimes and has been in and out of court and jail. Situations like these are the reason Florida’s 85% law, Truth in Sentencing, was passed.

Florida is experiencing a 50-year low in crime rates, related directly to criminals having to serve the majority of their sentence. It is the collective responsibility of stakeholders in public safety to not lower this. Florida will become a more dangerous place for citizens, visitors, and law enforcement now that this law has passed. Instead of reducing mandatory serve time, deliberation should be on other strategies to reform criminal justice in Florida.