Out-Of-Step Governor Disses One Of His Own

BY BUDDY NEVINS

Being on the other side of Gov. Rick Scott is a good place to be if you are running for office.

State Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff will find out what I mean.

Facing a tough re-election, Bogdanoff  found herself on the outs with the highly-unpopular governor this week.

Of all people Bogdanoff, a member of the Republican state Senate leadership!

If Scott dumps on Bogdanoff, what chance do Democrats have?

Bogdanoff of Fort Lauderdale sponsored a bill that would have allowed a minuscular number of non-violent, drug-addicted convicts to spend part of their sentence in a treatment program.

Without treatment, they leave prison still addicted and support themselves by committing crimes.  Treatment protects the public.

The prisons are filled with non-violent drug addicts who cost us money.  Only 337 inmates out of 100,000 in Florida could have used this program in the first year.

It passed the conservative Senate 40-0.  It passed the conservative House 112-4.

The House sponsor was state Rep. Ari Porth, a Democrat from Coral Springs.  He has a long history with the State Attorney’s Office. He is now running for judge.

The bill had the support of business groups. It had the support of public defenders.

Scott vetoed it.

As quoted in The Miami Herald, Scott said in his veto message:

“Justice to victims of crime is not served when a criminal is permitted to be released early from a sentence imposed by the courts. This bill would permit criminals to be released after serving 50 percent of their sentences, thus creating an unwarranted exception to the rule that inmates serve 85 percent of their imposed sentences.”

The veto message is just more of the Republican red-meat, tough-on-crime chatter from our conservative governor.

Rhetoric instead of reason.

What Scott is really saying is, “Dump on poor blacks.”  Because it is overwhelmingly poor blacks who get picked up with a nugget of crack or a joint in their pocket and end up doing hard time in Raiford.

Scott doesn’t care about blacks.  They vote for Democrats.

Bogdanoff, who worked for six years to pass the bill, is irked with Scott… to put it mildly.

“He said it was a ‘public safety’ issue. No it’s not,” she told The Herald. “These are non-violent drug offenders.”

I think it’s healthy for someone like Bogdanoff facing a tough re-election in Broward and Palm Beach Counties to have differences with Scott. She should feel good about putting some distance between herself and the unloved governor.

Scott’s low standing in the polls among voters of every political persuasion renews my faith in the electorate.

Every politician campaigning this year like Bogdanoff should remember: Rick Scott is about as popular as cancer.

(Personal disclosure: My son, Aaron Nevins, is Bogdanoff’s legislative aide.)




7 Responses to “Out-Of-Step Governor Disses One Of His Own”

  1. Kiko says:

    Mike Satz is about as popular as Rick Scott yet Broward media supports his incompetence no end.

  2. Sidelines says:

    Scott’s low standing in the polls among voters of every political persuasion renews my faith in the electorate. Every politician campaigning this year like Bogdanoff should remember: Rick Scott is about as popular as cancer.

    Well said Buddy but more importantly Registered Voters Must Vote.

  3. Sam the Sham says:

    Buddy,

    Stop this race card pandering. Scott said nothing of the sort.

    If only 337 inmates use this “get out early” this year, I bet 50,000 try to use it next year. My guess is that this bill will be reworked to have the early release somewhere closer to the 85% figure.

    A different subject might be the efficacy of rehab treatment, which I would guess is almost totally useless.

    FROM BUDDY: No, he didn’t say it. Get real. Blacks are the victims of this veto and they are overwhelmingly the victims of the misguided, wasteful War on Drugs. If it involved rich kids from Naples he would have let it become law. But rich kids from his neighborhood can afford to go to rehab on their own.

  4. What About S-S? says:

    You should be admired for disclosing your son’s role with Bogdanoff. Other reporters should disclose their conflicts, especially in the newspaper. I would wager that all those writing in the Sun-Sentinel about politics are Democrats. Let’s hear from them.

  5. ExCompassionate Conservative says:

    There are many people who would do much better undergoing rehab for an addiction problem instead of being wharehoused. State after state finally comes to this conclusion after seeing prisons fill up and what prison can do to people.

    Did we throw Scott into prison along with other HCA execs or did they just pay fines?

  6. YAFOS says:

    Yes, he and others just paid a fine and never served for a crime. How’s that for “early release”? of course you have to be wealthy and white to qualify.

  7. Wayne Arnold says:

    Senator Ellyn Bogdanoff is to be commended for her leadership action on this issue. She is correct.