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The Florida Commission on Offender Review, commonly referred to as FCOR or the commission, was first known as the Pardon Board (created by the 1885 Florida Constitution) and then later, in 1941, the Florida Parole and Probation Commission. [1] The commission is a Governor and Cabinet agency.
The commission is a quasi-judicial, decision-making body that makes post-release decisions affecting inmates and ex-offenders. The different types of release authorized by FCOR are parole, conditional release, conditional medical release, and addiction recovery supervision. [2] Commissioners preside over approximately 36 meetings annually at the central office in Tallahassee and various locations throughout the state to encourage participation by victims, victims’ families, and inmates’ families who would otherwise not be able to attend. While offenders are not present at these hearings, the Commission provides a victim's coordinator and an inmate family coordinator to assist both parties during the proceedings. Commissioners make a variety of determinations regarding parole and other types of release during the hearings. In addition, the Commission reviews releasees’ supervision status every two years, or as directed by the commission.
All Commission hearings are open to the public and no case decisions are made outside of the public meeting. Panel cases are decided by two (2) Commissioners and the full Commission involves three (3) Commissioners, as assigned by the chairman. Visiting Commissioners may be utilized, when assigned by the chairman, in the absence of a current sitting Commissioner or Commissioner-appointee. The Chairman decides on “split” cases (those cases where the two (2) panel Commissioners do not agree) at any point in time that same day after he/she has had the opportunity to review the cases in order.
Per the Sunshine Law (§ 947.06, F.S.), public meetings such as those held by the Commission must be noticed at least seven (7) days in advance. This is done by the commission's Office of the Commission Clerk. Prior to each meeting, an agenda is prepared and is made available on the commission's website. Members of the public, including inmate supporters. Victims, and others opposed to an inmate, attend the hearings and are given an opportunity to address the Commissioners. Each side is given 10 minutes to present information. Inmate supporters go first followed by those opposed. [3]
General Structure of the Meetings:
The commission is also the administrative arm of Executive Clemency. Clemency is the constitutionally authorized process that provides the means through which convicted felons may be considered for relief from punishment and seek restoration of their civil rights. The power to grant clemency is vested in the Governor with the agreement of two cabinet members who are also statewide elected officials. [4] The Governor also has the sole power to deny clemency. There are seven types of clemency. They are full pardon, pardon without firearm authority, pardon for misdemeanor, commutation of sentence, remission of fines and forfeitures, specific authority to own, possess, or use firearms, and restoration of civil rights in Florida.
The Governor and Cabinet appoint members of the commission from a list of eligible applicants submitted by a Parole Qualifications Committee. The five-member qualifications committee is appointed by the Governor and Cabinet and accepts and reviews applications. The Committee submits a list of three eligible applicants, which may include the incumbent if the Committee so decides, without the recommendation of its first choice. After the Governor and Cabinet have made their selection, the full Senate must then confirm the chosen applicant. [5]
The commission is composed of the following departments: Division of Operations (Office of the Commission Clerk, Revocations, Victims’ Services, Field Services), Division of Administration, Office of General Counsel, Office of External Affairs, Office of Executive Clemency, and the Office of Clemency Investigations. [6]
The commission has multiple offices throughout the state of Florida. The central office is in Tallahassee, with regional offices in Quincy, Jacksonville, Melbourne, Stuart, and Tampa [7]
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the jurisdiction.
A parole board is a panel of people who decide whether an offender should be released from prison on parole after serving at least a minimum portion of their sentence as prescribed by the sentencing judge. Parole boards are used in many jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, the United States, and New Zealand. A related concept is the board of pardons and paroles, which may deal with pardons and commutations as well as paroles.
The Correctional Service of Canada, also known as Correctional Service Canada or Corrections Canada, is the Canadian federal government agency responsible for the incarceration and rehabilitation of convicted criminal offenders sentenced to two years or more. The agency has its headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario.
In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons to convicted persons. The royal prerogative of mercy was originally used to permit the monarch to withdraw, or provide alternatives to, death sentences; the alternative of penal transportation to "partes abroade" was used since at least 1617. It is now used to change any sentence or penalty. A royal pardon does not overturn a conviction.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Texas for murder, and participation in a felony resulting in death if committed by an individual who has attained or is over the age of 18.
The Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) is a Cabinet-level agency within the Tennessee state government responsible for the oversight of more than 20,000 convicted offenders in Tennessee's fourteen prisons, three of which are privately managed by CoreCivic. The department is headed by the Tennessee Commissioner of Correction, who is currently Frank Strada. TDOC facilities' medical and mental health services are provided by Corizon. Juvenile offenders not sentenced as adults are supervised by the independent Tennessee Department of Children's Services, while inmates granted parole or sentenced to probation are overseen by the Department of Correction (TDOC)/Department of Parole. The agency is fully accredited by the American Correctional Association. The department has its headquarters on the sixth floor of the Rachel Jackson Building in Nashville.
The New Hampshire Department of Corrections is the government agency in the U.S. state of New Hampshire charged with overseeing the state correctional facilities, supervising probation and parolees, and serving in an advisory capacity in the prevention of crime and delinquency. As of June 30, 2013, the Department had an inmate population of 2,791, 15,267 on probation or parole, and 893 total employees, 470 as corrections officers and 64 as probation/parole officers. The agency has its headquarters in Concord.
The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board is the parole board of the state of Oklahoma. The board was created by an amendment to the Oklahoma Constitution in 1944. The Board has the authority to empower the Governor of Oklahoma to grant pardons, paroles, and commutations to people convicted of offenses against the state of Oklahoma.
In the United States, life imprisonment is the most severe punishment provided by law in states with no valid capital punishment statute, and second-most in those with a valid statute. According to a 2013 study, 1 of every 2 000 inhabitants of the U.S. were imprisoned for life as of 2012.
The Florida Department of Corrections (FDC) is the government agency responsible for operating state prisons in the U.S. state of Florida. It has its headquarters in the state capital of Tallahassee.
The Department of Public Safety and Corrections (DPS&C) is a state law enforcement agency responsible for the incarceration of inmates and management of facilities at state prisons within the state of Louisiana. The agency is headquartered in Baton Rouge. The agency comprises two major areas: Public Safety Services and Corrections Services. The secretary, who is appointed by the governor of Louisiana, serves as the department's chief executive officer. The Corrections Services deputy secretary, undersecretary, and assistant secretaries for the Office of Adult Services and the Office of Youth Development report directly to the secretary. Headquarters administration consists of centralized divisions that support the management and operations of the adult and juvenile institutions, adult and juvenile probation and parole district offices, and all other services provided by the department.
The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles is a five-member panel authorized to grant paroles, pardons, reprieves, remissions, commutations, and to remove civil and political disabilities imposed by law. Created by a constitutional amendment in 1943, it is part of the executive branch of Georgia's government. Members are appointed by the governor to staggered, renewable seven-year terms subject to confirmation by the State Senate.
Marsy's Law, the California Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008, enacted by voters as Proposition 9 through the initiative process in the November 2008 general election, is an amendment to the state's constitution and certain penal code sections. The act protects and expands the legal rights of victims of crime to include 17 rights in the judicial process, including the right to legal standing, protection from the defendant, notification of all court proceedings, and restitution, as well as granting parole boards far greater powers to deny inmates parole. Critics allege that the law unconstitutionally restricts defendant's rights by allowing prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence under certain circumstances, and harms victims by restricting their rights to discovery, depositions, and interviews. Passage of this law in California led to the passage of similar laws in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Nevada, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio and Wisconsin, and efforts to pass similar laws in Hawaii, Iowa, Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and Pennsylvania. In November 2017, Marsy's Law was found to be unconstitutional and void in its entirety by the Supreme Court of Montana for violating that state's procedure for amending the Montana Constitution. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reached the same conclusion as Montana under its own state constitution in 2021.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) is a state agency that makes parole and clemency decisions for inmates in Texas prisons. It is headquartered in Austin, Texas.
Richard Eugene Glossip is an American prisoner currently on death row at Oklahoma State Penitentiary after being convicted of commissioning the 1997 murder of Barry Van Treese. The man who murdered Van Treese, Justin Sneed, had a "meth habit" and agreed to plead guilty in exchange for testifying against Glossip. Sneed received a life sentence without parole. Glossip's case has attracted international attention due to the unusual nature of his conviction, namely that there was little or no corroborating evidence, with the first case against him described as "extremely weak" by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Kentucky.
Cathy Stocker is a former District Attorney for Blaine, Canadian, Garfield, Grant and Kingfisher counties in Oklahoma for 28 years before retiring in 2010, and a former member of the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Richard Smothermon is a current Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board member and former District Attorney in Oklahoma.
"Commission Reports and Publications". The Florida Commission on Offender Review. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
Dunkelberger, Lloyd; December 4, Florida Phoenix; 2019. "More elderly and ill prisoners would be eligible for release under a proposed House bill". Florida Phoenix. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
"Florida Cabinet". MyFlorida.com. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
"Florida clemency board approves automatic restoration of felons' civil rights". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
"Florida Commission decides conditional medical release for sick inmates". Florida Bulldog. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
"Florida Commission on Offender Review Administrative Code". Florida Department of State. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
"Florida Commission on Offender Review". Office of Programs Policy Analysis and Government Accountability. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
Perry, Mitch; October 8, Florida Phoenix; 2019 (2019-10-08). "In federal hearing, judge appears skeptical of Florida's new felon-voting restoration system". Florida Phoenix. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
"Rules of Executive Clemency". The Florida Commission on Offender Review. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
"Three on Florida Commission decide parole for thousands of inmates". Florida Bulldog. 2019-12-13. Retrieved 2022-05-02.