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Brogan to head panel for improving
juvenile justice in Florida
July 31, 2007
By Associated Press
Related Content
Florida Department of Juvenile Justice
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Former Lt.
Gov. Frank Brogan will chair a 25-member "Blueprint Commission" that
will recommend ways to improve Florida's juvenile justice system,
state officials said Tuesday.
Brogan, now president of Florida
Atlantic University, served as lieutenant governor from 1999 until
2003. He resigned to take his present position shortly after he was
re-elected on the Republican ticket headed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush.
Florida Department of Juvenile
Justice Secretary Walt McNeil announced formation of the commission
that includes public officials, judges and juvenile justice experts.
The panel will make recommendations to Gov. Charlie Crist and the
Legislature.
Crist in January appointed McNeil,
a former Tallahassee police chief, to head the agency after it was
rocked by the death of a juvenile boot camp inmate in 2006.
Martin Lee Anderson, 14, died at a
Pensacola hospital after he had been roughed up by guards at the
Panama City camp operated by the Bay County Sheriff's Office as part
of a state program.
The Legislature abolished the
militaristic boot camp program and approved $5 million in
compensation to Anderson's parents.
The commission is scheduled to hold
public hearings Sept. 4-5 in Fort Lauderdale, Sept. 25-26 in
Jacksonville, Oct. 4-5 in Orlando, Oct. 17-18 in Fort Myers, Oct.
29-30 in Tampa and Nov. 6-7 in Pensacola.
LaWanda Ravoira, a Jacksonville
author and juvenile justice expert who once headed a facility for
girls, will serve as vice chair.
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