[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 36 (Wednesday, March 19, 1997)]
[House]
[Page H1161]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          FLORIDA'S RELEASE OF VIOLENT CRIMINALS MARKS SAD DAY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under a previous order of the House, the 
gentleman from Florida [Mr. Wexler] is recognized for 5 minutes.
  Mr. WEXLER. Mr. Speaker, today is a very sad day for Floridians and 
for all Americans. Nearly 1,000 criminals who have committed the most 
heinous crimes imaginable have been released from Florida's prisons 
without serving nearly their full sentences. Once again the victims and 
their families will relive the worst nightmare, knowing that the 
criminal who destroyed their lives is free to commit the crime again.
  This is an outrage, and Congress must stop it now. Imagine it was 
your 6-year-old son who was sexually molested by a friend you trusted 
enough to bring into your home. Imagine it was your wife or sister who 
was brutally raped. Imagine it was your 17-year-old son who was 
repeatedly stabbed to death. These are not hypothetical examples. All 
of these vile criminals were among the 1,000 prisoners already released 
from Florida's prisons.

                              {time}  1800

  The criminals who committed these heinous crimes are now walking free 
due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that creates a so-called 
constitutionally protected right to gain time, an early release 
mechanism created by Florida officials in 1983 to alleviate prison 
overcrowding. History shows that a frighteningly high percentage of 
these criminals will molest, murder, and rape again and again.
  Last month Floridians saw a chilling example of what happens when 
violent felons are released from jail prematurely. Lawrence Singleton 
was released after serving only 8 years, only 8 years of his 14-year 
sentence for raping a 15-year-old girl, severing her forearms, and 
leaving her for dead. This young girl lived. But last month Singleton 
struck again and murdered a Tampa woman.
  How many Floridians must die because of this absurd U.S. Supreme 
Court decision? The whole premise of gain time is a contradiction. 
Releasing violent prisoners before they serve their full sentence is 
just plainly wrong. A child molester, a murderer, or a rapist has 
earned absolutely nothing. For years Florida was known as the crime 
capital of the United States. The U.S. Supreme Court has slapped law-
abiding Floridians in the face.
  That is why Congressmen Foley, McCollum, and I today filed a 
bipartisan constitutional amendment empowering States to keep their 
violent offenders behind bars and allowing the American people the 
opportunity to exercise common sense when our Supreme Court has failed 
to do so.
  Our sheriffs can catch them, our State attorneys can prosecute them, 
our judges and juries can sentence them, our State legislatures can 
appropriate the money to build the prisons. But after all, this 
ridiculous loophole sets these violent people free.
  Something is dramatically wrong when a technicality and 
interpretation by judicial decree overrides good sense, good judgment, 
and good government when as many as 16,000 dangerous criminals are free 
to terrorize our neighborhoods and when the Supreme Court places the 
rights of violent criminals above the rights of law-abiding citizens.
  The Constitution of the United States must be changed.
  
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