Protect and Serve . .3 JSO Wanted . .9 FUGITIVES CAPTURED The Book Shelf . .5 JSO: 12 Days of Holiday Safety . .10 OVER 3,000 3052 JSO meets with Cobblestone Community . .6 Busted . .10 MISSING AG Bondi: Law Enforcement Appreciation . .6 Nassau, Bradford, Clay, and Beaches Wanted . .11 FUGITIVES PERSONS Missing Persons . .7 The Advocacy Report . .12 FOUND 184 Unsolved Murders . .8 FBI 2016 Hate Crime Statistics . .12 CAPTURED AVAILABLE ONLINE 24/7 D ECE MBER 2017 WWW.JUSTICECOALITION.ORG Volume 24 • Number 12 • FREE Restoration of Joshua Phillips Voting Privilege By Michael J. Liles, Executive Director Resentenced to Life Would you be interested in upheld, his rights in the legal system passing a law that would make By Ray Tuenge, Jr. were placed before the victims’ breaking and entering permis - rights. For Phillips, there always sible? Suppose that someone seems to be a possibility of slipping has something you want but Maddie Clifton was only 8 years old when she was brutally murdered through the cracks. It’s never com - can’t afford. Why not just take pletely over and done with. it? You could do so if you pass a law that says if in November 1998. Her 14-year-old neighbor Joshua Phillips beat her re - Since then, new scientific evi - you want it you can have it! Surely reasonable peo - dence has shown that the adolescent ple can agree that there are people that are just not peatedly with a baseball bat, slit her throat, and stabbed her to death. He human brain may not be as fully de - reasonable. Don’t you think we need a law called veloped as previously thought. Re - the “he or she ticked me off” law? This would hid her body under a waterbed in his mother’s house and for a week par - cent Supreme Court decisions have make it permissible to punch someone in the nose decided that it is unlawful to sen - without risking arrest for assault or battery. After ticipated in the massive, city-wide search effort. It was nearly a week tence all adolescent defendants to life all, he or she ticked you off! behind bars automatically. As a re - There are a number of reasons the founding fa - before Phillip’s mother found Mad - die’s body under her son’s bed. sult, Phillips’ attorneys jumped on thers did not automatically return convicted felons another opportunity to petition the into voting citizens at the completion of a sentence. For nearly two decades, one of Northeast Florida’s most notorious court to reduce his life sentence. One is the mindset that allowed them to break the When this decision was made, law in the first place. They demonstrate a disdain murder cases has victimized the Clifton family repeatedly. While we interviewed Assistant State At - for rules! The theory is that if someone doesn’t fol - Maddie Clifton torney Bernie de la Rionda about low the accepted rules of society, we do not give mourning the loss of Maddie, they the possibility of parole—at the time, what this meant for the Maddie them a say in making the rules. Some of us take have dealt with the never-ending an automatic sentence. Phillips’ case Clifton case. Bernie de la Rionda the law of the land seriously. legal battle over her murderer’s legal went to an appeals court in 2002, prosecuted the case in 1999 and the There are a number of people trying to pass a rights. once again forcing the Clifton family resentencing last month. In that in - petition referenced as “Say YES to Second In 1999, Joshua Phillips was tried to suffer through more court pro - Chances.” The Petition itself and especially its Bal - and convicted as an adult. He was ceedings. Although his sentence was Joshua (Continued on page 2) lot Summary say otherwise. sentenced to life in prison without It reads: “This amendment restores the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation. The amendment would not Service Animals apply to those convicted of murder or sexual of - fenses, who would continue to be permanently barred from voting unless the Governor and Cabi - By Jay Howell net vote to restore their voting rights on a case by case basis.” The 2017 session of the Florida If I steal a car to rob the bank and then flee from legislature passed a new law that af - police, I am racking up a number of potential fects the use of service animals as - felonies. Unless one of them is murder or sexual sisting witnesses in the courtroom. crimes this could be offering someone far more It makes it easier for Judges to allow than a second chance. It could be a felon’s second, service animals to be used to accom - third, fourth, fifth, tenth, or even twentieth chance. pany certain crime victims and wit - It is not clear in the Ballot Summary. The people nesses. This new law took effect in July 2017 so it is who are asking for signatures are telling people all already on the books. a service dog. The new bill authorizes any person who around them that this is strictly non-violent of - A previous session of the Florida legislature has an intellectual disability to testify with the assis - fenses. Again, look at the Ballot Summary. passed a statute that would allow children to testify tance of an animal. Those previously authorized to “The amendment would not apply to those con - with the assistance of what was then called a “service testify with the assistance of an animal, included child victed of murder or sexual offenses.” animal.” The use of the term “service animal” in the victims, child witnesses, and certain sexual offense vic - Armed Robbery, Assault & Battery, Assault with previous law caused some concern because many of tims and witnesses. a Deadly Weapon, Intent to Kill, Attempted Mur - the animals that were trained to assist individuals in The new law specifies that a “facility dog” is a der. I am still uncertain about the ambiguity of courtrooms had never been actually certified by na - type of animal authorized to assist witnesses. “Facility manslaughter convictions and their status in terms tional organizations. “Service animal” is a term de - animals” include the dogs that are currently trained to of restoration of voting privileges. By this defini - fined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and had assist in hospitals, prison facilities, and other institu - tion domestic violence is not violent! To suggest a specific meaning that applied to animals assisting in - tional settings. The use of the term “facility animal” that the ability of convicted felons to be engaged in dividuals with disabilities. The definition in the fed - will allow many more opportunities for animal assis - the political process beggars the question of influ - eral disabilities act specifically excluded dogs whose tance to witnesses in the courtroom setting. The new encing others to do what they cannot…Vote. Giv - sole function is to provide comfort or emotional sup - law deletes the references to “service animal” and, in - ing people the right to exercise this privilege port. One of the purpo ses of the new F lo rida law w as s tead, em ploys the phrase “th era py anim a ls.” The should NOT be our primary concern. Giving peo - to expand the definition so that co mfo rt and sup port n ew statut e defines thes e te rms. T he n ew law de cla res ple the incentive to earn it back is a better idea. dogs could be used. that a “facility dog” is a dog that provides unobtrusive The new law accomplishes that and expands the Voting (Continued on page 6) group of individuals w ho may bene fi t fro m t he u se of Service (Continued on page 6) The views, opinions and positions The Justice Coalition is a grass roots, non-profit (501(c)3), non-partisan organization that operates on contributions, expressed in articles submitted by monthly and/or periodic proceeds from fundraisers and citizen involvement. Please help us continue our advocacy for innocent victims of contributors to the Victims' Advocate newspaper do not violent crime in NE Florida. Visit our website at www.justicecoalition.org or call (904)783-6312 to see how you can be necessarily reflect the views of the Justice Coalition a part of this vital service. Text 84464 to donate. Joshua – Continued from page 1 Service – Continued from page 1 terview in 2016, he told us that because of the hor - explained or attributed to immaturity, impetuosity emotional support to children who are regularly working rible nature of the murder and the effect of the or recklessness or headless risk taking. The crime and adults in facility settings. with witnesses in a court room crime on the victim’s family and the community, committed by the defendant is indeed the uncom - It requires that the animal has will do well to check their Phillips deserved the life sentence that he had orig - mon case that qualifies for a life sentence.” been trained, evaluated, and local circuit court rules for the inally received. Even though Phillips has never been allowed to certified as a facility dog pur - standards that are being em - Last month, Judge Waddell Wallace gave the walk free for his crime, the endless legal maneu - suant to indus try standards. ployed to us e animals in the verdict to Phillips that he would have to remain be - verings of the legal system h av e impacted Maddie A therapy an imal is defined as courtroom.