Bush signs Anderson
Act; parents renew call for accountability
By Jim Ash
May 31, 2006
Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Martin Lee
Anderson Act today, nearly six months after the baby-faced
14-year-old died a day after guards at a Panama City boot camp
shoved and kicked him and forced ammonia capsules into his nostrils.
"This won't bring your son back,"
Bush told Anderson's mother and father as he signed the bill in his
oak-paneled office suite. "But I hope you know your involvement in
this process made a difference."
Bush told a crush of reporters crowded
around his desk that a liaison calls Hillsborough State Attorney
Mark Ober to check on the investigation every other day. He also
called for patience, acknowledging the frustration of protesters who
continue to demand arrests.
"I'm frustrated because I know that
they are frustrated," Bush said. "If there is grounds for pursuing
some kind of charge, we want to make sure that it is backed up by a
thorough investigation."
Gina Jones and Robert Anderson, the
teenager's parents, met with Bush briefly before the bill signing.
They told reporters they were satisfied that the legislation would
prevent the kind of tragedies that took their son's life.
Shortly after Bush signed the bill,
Jones displayed a photo of her son dressed in a green basketball
uniform, cradling an orange ball and wearing an impish half-smile.
"I'd like to thank Governor Jeb
Bush," Jones said. "But I would still like the guards to be held
accountable for killing my baby. He was only 14 years old."
Among other things, the legislation
would create "STAR" academies, or boot camps modeled after a program
in Martin County that places more emphasis on juvenile prevention
programs and follow up counseling when youthful offenders are
released.
The bill also prohibits the use of
ammonia capsules, limits corporal punishment, calls for more
thorough screening before juvenile offenders are committed to
programs and requires increased access to health care facilities for
juvenile detainees. The bill also requires any witness of abusive
treatment of juvenile offenders to report it to a hotline, similar
to a law that mandates the reporting of child abuse.
Originally
published May 31, 2006
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