links and resources
- FLORIDA RIGHTS RESTORATION COALITION
- THE PROTEGE PROJECT
- FLORIDA RURAL LEGAL SERVICES
- US Department of Justice
- US Sentencing Commission
- Administrative Office of the US Courts, Department of Program Services, Defender Services Office
- State Sentencing Commissions
- The Sentencing Guidelines Resource Center
- Death Penalty Information Center
- The Sentencing Project
- Families Against Mandatory Minimums
- Justice Policy Institute
- Justice Strategies
- Justice Research and Statistics Association
- Right on Crime
- Vera Institute of Justice, Center on Sentencing and Corrections
- Pew Public Safety Performance Project
- Prison Policy Initiative
- Collateral Consequences Resource Center
- The Crime Report
- The Marshall Project
- Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth
- Fair Punishment Project
- Top 50 Criminal Law Blogs
- United States Constitution
- United States Code
- Code of Federal Regulations (updates are in the Federal Register)
- Federal Rules of Court (Rules of Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, Appellate Procedure, Evidence, etc.)
- Federal Rules of Procedure for Federal Postconviction Proceedings (Sections 2254 and 2255 of Title 28)
- The Brief Bank
- SCOTUSBlog
- summary of all successful ineffective assistance of counsel claims after Strickland v. Washington
- A Jailhouse Lawyer’s Manual (criminal and prisoner civil rights)
- Legislative History from the Library of Congress
- The Law Library of Congress
- Prison Talk
- CM/ECF and Pacer
- Federal Bureau of Prisons
- American Civil Liberties Union
- NORML Legal Brief Bank
- United States: Prison Resources by State/Human Rights watch
A great night of promoting “Yes” Votes on Amendment 4.
Most Floridian’s genuinely believe in and support Second Chances. Sure, there were a few exceptions or limitations and yes, very reasonable hesitations with many. However, once they familiarized themselves with what Amendment 4 is really all about, heard my personal story and really considered the pros and cons, all of the individuals I spoke with but one said they would vote “yes.” The one exception I met came from a man who, like me, stole a car when he was young, got probation and subsequently violated the probation by testing positive for smoking marijuana. Because of that felony conviction 30 years ago, the State of Florida denies him the right to vote.
Donna, my significant other, did have one individual who stated he’s in law enforcement and would never vote for anything that would benefit a convicted felon. Of course, on top of making his living off locking people up, he likely has huge investments in prisons for profits and would oppose any laws that could possibly reduce our extremely high rate of recidivism. Him and Rick Scott would likely get along great. Fortunately, he was the only exception —one out of the over 300 people we spoke with.
Thank you Desmond Meade and all of the awesome staff and supporters of the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition for making Amendment 4 possible. It’s a great first step…