Florida Courts: Incompetent or Criminally Negligent?

[russesjunjee]

This was given more than a dozen chances by the Florida court system......


This has been given ZERO chances by the Florida courts........

[FormerACLUmember]

The rat Florida courts aid and abet in the murder of little girls.

The rat Florida courts have attempted to murder Terry and may try this again.

The rat Florida courts attempted to steal a Presidential election.

[MinuteGal]

Two pictures worth more than a thousand words.

Leni

[AppauledAtAppeasementConservat]

That needs to be on a billboard in Florida!

[weegee]

Girl's death sparks debate over Florida probation system

I found this quote from the defendent's last judge:

Sarasota Circuit Judge Harry Rapkin, the latest judge to have handled Smith's case, said Friday he was not at fault for not putting Smith in jail when the unemployed mechanic failed to pay court costs and fines in December.

There's no "debtor's prison" in Florida, and Smith wouldn't have been held simply for not paying a bill, the judge said.

What "debtor's prison"? If you don't pay your tickets, you are sent to jail for being defiant of the court. Court costs and fines also figure into this.

Is Florida that different from Texas that there are no warrants for people who refuse to pay fines? Maybe this is why such a "large" percentage of Texans have been jailed compared to the rest of the country; the law means something here.

Debtor's prison would be for people who don't pay their rent, credit card/phone/electric bills, etc.

[longtermmemmory]

Judge Rapkin is not as many believe here. I am the first to admit to the insanity of FL Judges for various reasons. FL has sentencing guidelines, the prosecutor can not offer a sentence that is not in the guidlines, the Judge can not accept a sentence outside the guidelines.

Make no mistake, I am not defending the killer scum. However this is not a judge who does the same kind of bias games as been demonstrated in the Schiavo case.

What were the guidline scores the judge had to work with? what was the offer from the prosecutor? The prosecutor may have offered the sentence and the judge signed off on the plea.

From the article, his most serious charge was kidnapping which went to trial and he won a not guilty. The most recent charges were not violent but drug related. The aquital could not be considered. FL has a truth in sentencing law, you have to do no less than 85% of the time is charged. Some charges are hard time with no time off for good behavior.

BTW the failure to pay a court cost or fine seldom gets a person put in jail when they are underemployed or out of work. It is that whole FL and the USA does not have debtor's prisons. Now if the person is employed and refuses to pay, that is different story.

In short I am saying we need to choose our battles. There is an investigation now, this particular Judge is not one who does not do things by the book, not good not bad. No I don't know him personally.

If you don't pay your tickets, you don't go to jail they suspend your license. It is a civil infraction. There is no risk of jail for a violation of FL Statutes Ch 316 which is the traffic laws.

The REFUSAL to pay a fine is different from the inability to pay a fine. The Refusal is contemptuous. (intentional disrespect to the court.) You have to have a court hearing to show the failure to pay was not intentional and have an opportunity to purge the contempt.

[goldstategop]

The lot of them should be impeached... both for denying Terri Schiavo her God given rights and for coddling a 13 time criminal loser named Joseph P. Smith. What happened to three strikes? Government subverts the rights of the helpless and aids and abets criminals.

[weegee]

I know people who could not afford to pay their traffic tickets and took their time in jail here in Texas instead. Working by the roadside cleaning up or doing other work details works the time off even quicker.

[weegee]

3 strikes is California law and it generated outcries of being "unfair". 13 strikes is nothing.

There are also people who have been caught driving drunk/with a suspended license,etc. several hundred times.

Severity of the crimes can vary but "3 strikes" is more the exception in this country than the rule for incarceration.

[tessalu]

Florida courts are evil!

[longtermmemmory]

In the event of extreme finicial harship and personal circumstances a ticket defendant will be allowed to do community service.

There are criminal traffic tickets here. Those are matters like driving on a suspended license, license plate fraud, or reckless driving. The difference is the punishment provides for up to 60 days in jail.

It may be texas considers tickets like speeding to be a criminal matter rather than civil and thus have jail time.

[pollywog]

The rat Florida courts aid and abet in the murder of little girls.

The rat Florida courts have attempted to murder Terry and may try this again.

The rat Florida courts attempted to steal a Presidential election.

Couldn't have said it better!Agree 100%!!

[pollywog]

That needs to be on a billboard in Florida!

WOW what a splendid idea!!

[HELLRAISER II]

One word comes to mind Unbelievable!

[Andy from Beaverton]

Florida Courts: Incompetent or Criminally Negligent?
Why can't it be both? Florida Courts: Incompetent and Criminally Negligent?

[Redbob]

My vote would be:

"Criminally Incompetent"

Are they going to release this guy yet again?
Or give him a ride on "Old Sparky"?

[floriduh voter]

Powerful analogy. Florida's Attorney General Crist was on Fox News this a.m. I think the state is going to step in regarding repeat offenders such as Smith.

On the other side of the coin, Governor Bush with Florida's Legislature wrote Terri's Law which the Judges REFUSE TO ABIDE BY. They are breaking the law; J. Greer, J. Baird and J. Demers. Judge Rapkin broke the law too, he's trying to say "he just had a piece of paper in front of him." Not good enough. RAPKIN DROPPED THE BALL and care more about Smith's rights than protecting society. I WISH THAT RAPKIN WOULD BE IMPEACHED OR RESIGN. If his actions were legal but just barely, Rapkin should still not be serving on the bench. He could make MORE DECISIONS IN FAVOR OF CRIMINALS.

[floriduh voter]

Judge Rapkin had a decision to make re: coke charges last year. FIVE YEARS or rehab? Judge Rapkin chose rehab for scumbag predator Smith. Why didn't Judge Rapkin look at ANY of the prior arrests back when he gave the predator rehab? Rapkin is a bleeding heart judge worried about the criminal's rights. JUDGE RAPKIN MADE A BAD DECISION BACK THEN. All that followed would be moot because the killer would have been serving the remaining FOUR years of his five year sentence and CARLIE WOULD BE ALIVE.

[floriduh voter]

REOCCURRING THEME IN FLORIDA: Violence against women. Indifference to violence again women. Comments?

[biblewonk]

I really really appreciate your post. Even an even tempered person like me is wanting someone to blame for this and it is all to easy a reflex to pick the first judge that "someone says" is at fault.

It seems that the 2nd judge to let him off after his 2nd assault on a female is the real culprit here. I wonder who that is and if people are targeting him for their hate mail and destruction rituals.