Posted on 07/21/2002 12:04:45 PM PDT by summer
Gov. Bush's daughter released from Orlando jail
Saturday, July 20, 2002
By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press
ORLANDO — Noelle Bush, the daughter of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, left jail and was allowed back into a drug rehabilitation program Friday, less than 48 hours after she was jailed for violating the terms of her treatment.
Bush was ordered into the Orange County Jail on Wednesday for violating the terms of her drug treatment program.
At a hearing Friday afternoon, Circuit Judge Reginald Whitehead decided it wasn't necessary to keep her locked up any longer and said she could return to The Center for Drug-Free Living.
"I would not allow you to go back to the facility if I didn't think you could do the program," Whitehead told the president's niece. "You're very intelligent, you have the support there.
You just need to work on the decisions that you're making, and I know that you can do it."
Bush, accompanied by her brother, George P. Bush, and her attorney, said little during the two-minute hearing. When asked by the judge if she had any questions, she said, "No, at this time, I don't."
Before the hearing, [Noelle] Bush walked into the courtroom from a side door and looked cautiously at a gallery filled with at least a dozen reporters. She sat next to her brother, who squeezed her hand and gave her a smile of encouragement.
"She's definitely remorseful with what happened," George P. Bush told reporters after the hearing. "She recognizes her errors, that she's not perfect and that she made a mistake."
George P. Bush, who gained attention two years ago campaigning for his uncle, President Bush, said family members were disappointed.
"We have basically shown her tough love — that there are consequences to your actions, that she is going to receive equal treatment under the law and that if she continues down this certain path, then there are going to be certain ramifications," he added. "But we love her and we love her unconditionally."
Neither the governor, nor his wife, Columba, attended the hearing.
Cory Tilley, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, said the governor was leaving on a trade mission for London Friday night. The governor, who is running for re-election, visited his daughter Wednesday night at the jail.
"He saw his daughter the other night," said Tilley, who added he was at the hearing as a family friend, not as the governor's representative.
Allen Moore, an Orange County Jail spokesman, said Noelle Bush was met by a worker from the drug treatment center shortly after 6:30 a.m. Friday.
"It's common when someone is in a treatment program to be picked up by someone in the program so they don't go back on the street," Moore said.
Bush, 24, was found to be in contempt of court Wednesday because a worker at the treatment center found her carrying prescription pills, according to a letter sent to Whitehead. The letter didn't identify the pills.
The judge sent Bush to jail for three days. A jail spokesman said the order counts any part of a day as an entire day, meaning the hours she spent in jail Wednesday and Friday along with the full day Thursday satisfied her sentence.
A nurse said Bush, who tested negative for the drug, took the pills from a cabinet in her office.
Bush was arrested in January at a Tallahassee pharmacy drive-through window for allegedly trying to buy the anti-anxiety drug Xanax with a fraudulent prescription.
She was admitted to an Orlando drug treatment center in February, with the possibility that charges would be dropped if she completed the program. She previously was ordered to complete community service work for leaving the drug treatment center without permission.
"Anybody who has an addiction has a rough road," said Joan Ballard, a spokeswoman for The Center for Drug-Free Living. "Substance abuse can affect anyone and any family regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, social or economic background."
:o)
Oh, brother...
Plenty of help available on FR.
Is this acceptable? To just link to the original source of the picture?
Or this one?
Depending on the size of the jpeg, the bandwidth demands of linking to the original site are relatively modest. I can't guarantee that it's a universally acceptable practice, but I haven't had any problems so far.
Before the hearing, [Noelle] Bush walked into the courtroom from a side door and looked cautiously at a gallery filled with at least a dozen reporters. She sat next to her brother, who squeezed her hand and gave her a smile of encouragement.
"She's definitely remorseful with what happened," George P. Bush told reporters after the hearing. "She recognizes her errors, that she's not perfect and that she made a mistake."
George P. Bush, who gained attention two years ago campaigning for his uncle, President Bush, said family members were disappointed.
"We have basically shown her tough love — that there are consequences to your actions, that she is going to receive equal treatment under the law and that if she continues down this certain path, then there are going to be certain ramifications," he added. "But we love her and we love her unconditionally."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.