(Gov.) Scott's bad veto

(Gov.) Scott's bad veto

As part of his mission to reduce the scope and cost of state government, Gov. Rick Scott has for the last two years sought to privatize several South Florida prisons. On Monday, however, he passed on an opportunity to shrink the number of prisoners behind bars and save taxpayers money.

Scott vetoed a bill that would have permitted some non-violent, drug-addicted inmates to move from prison to intensive treatment programs after serving half their time, instead of the mandatory 85 percent. The measure passed the House and Senate with only four dissenting votes, yet the governor believed he was taking a stand for “public safety.”

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Senate Bill 448 (and its companion in the House) would have allowed the prison system to identify non-violent drug offenders who have records of good behavior and whom officials believe have treatable addictions. These candidates would be released from behind bars but would remain in state custody in a re-entry program, where they would have to serve at least six months.


While there, the inmate would undergo a full substance abuse assessment to determine his treatment needs, have an educational assessment and enroll in an adult education program to improve his academic skills and earn a high school diploma if he had not already obtained one.

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Gov. Scott vetoed a chance to infuse some sense in the state’s drug laws, provide the corrections system with some much-needed flexibility on incarcerations and save the public money.