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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums55 bodies and 0 trials at the florida school for boys
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2014/01/prosecutors-are-failing-the-victims-of-floridas-notorious-reform-school.htmlThis week, the remains of fifty-five bodies were found in unmarked graves on the grounds of the former Florida School for Boys, in the panhandle town of Marianna. The reformatory school, which was operated by the state of Florida, and which closed in 2011, was notorious for its mistreatment of its students. In 1968, Floridas governor at the time, Claude Kirk, said of the school, Somebody should have blown the whistle a long time ago. There have long been allegations of beatings, torture, and sexual abuse there; it now appears that some students were killed. The total number of bodies buried at the school has not been determined, but the leader of the exhumation effort, the forensic anthropologist Erin Kimmerle, has said that it may exceed a hundred.
Some of the children died natural deaths, but the sheer number of bodies suggests that there may have been many killings, a possibility buttressed by eyewitness accounts. Yet Floridas prosecutors have yet to file a single criminal charge, or even open a criminal investigation. To pass over crimes of this magnitude without investigation seems the very definition of injustice.
There is no statute of limitations for murder and other crimes causing death, which means that there is no legal bar to bringing charges. In Florida, all capital cases have long had no statute of limitations, and when these crimes were allegedly committed forcible rape was punishable by death. But there are challenges to prosecuting old crimes: given how much time has passed, it may be difficult to determine who was responsible for the killings, and many of the suspects, meanwhile, have already died, including the schools longtime superintendent, Lenox Williams, who died in 2010. Some are still alive, including Troy Tidwell, an instructor at the school, who was accused of abuse in a class-action lawsuit filed by more than two hundred former students in 2009. (Tidwell denies the accusations, and the case was dismissed after a judge ruled that the statute of limitations on the charges had run out.)
In spite of these difficulties, a prosecutor still has many options in a case like this one. Scenes of mass death, like those caused by fires at night clubs in which the exits are blocked, are often prosecuted as cases of involuntary manslaughter. If the wantonly negligent operation of the school led to many deaths, the Florida School of Boys was like a deadly fire in slow motion. In addition, some of the schools surviving employees and managers could potentially be prosecuted for felony murderFlorida law includes special provisions for deaths that occur during the abuse of minorsor, alternatively, members of the staff could be prosecuted as members of a conspiracy. There may also be fresher claims of obstruction of justice. A law student could probably find more options, let alone a dedicated prosecutor.
dipsydoodle
(42,239 posts)Even worse than the child molestation situation going back years in the UK
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)the stories of the survivors and families are chilling
http://thewhitehouseboysonline.com/
My brother Gregory Sampson just before
going to Dozer 1965. He arrived at Dozer on
March 16th 1965 and turned 13 on the 17th
of March 1965. He came home at the end of
Oct or 1st of Nov of 1965 in a wheel chair, a
patch over his right eye, could not speak,
walk, and barely could move arms He never
recovered and died June 6th 0f 1966. I do
not know what he endured at Dozer and I
may never know. So rest in peace my dear
brother, I still love you and miss you
everyday....Jeffrey Sampson
malaise
(269,157 posts)kelliekat44
(7,759 posts)Mr. President!!
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)the government officials tried to stop the investigation because it would hurt TOURISM!?
these are the "offenses" of these poor kids:
One page lists the names of 67 boys.
18 were sent to the school for Runaway.
29 were sent to the school for Being incorrigible.
4 were sent to the school for using Using foul language.
3 were sent to the school for Breaking and entering.
4 were sent to the school for Joy riding.
5 were sent to the school for Smoking cigarettes and skipping school.
4 were sent to the school for Refusing to follow direction.
http://www.thewhitehouseboys.com/
cer7711
(502 posts)Investigate and prosecute surviving staff members of this school like you would Nazi concentration camp guards.
"I was just doing my job," or "I was just following orders," should not suffice to cloak surviving staff members from searing scrutiny and possible punishment. Disagree?
I can't take reading much about this story; it sends my stomach plummeting down an elevator shaft . . .
valerief
(53,235 posts)secondvariety
(1,245 posts)came from the wrong side of the tracks and Florida being Florida, there never will be any trials.
heaven05
(18,124 posts)100 bodies????!!!! That's amazingly tragic. Florida is truly a fucked up place to live. Than as well as now!
riverwalker
(8,694 posts)is my new hero. The State of Florida kept telling her to run along, nothing to see here, young lady, Rick Scott refused to let her do any excavations. Without her persistence, those little graves would still be hidden.
blackspade
(10,056 posts)blackspade
(10,056 posts)And culpability.
This is about corruption and coverups of something utterly horrific.
There is no possible way that this case should not be front and center for state and federal law enforcement and prosecutors.
The fact that it's not because of tourism financial concerns just shows how corrupt the system has become.
This is business interests and their bought politicians attempting to deny an obscenity in the name of profits.
I've excavated plenty of bodies in my career, but there is no way I could stomach this project. I feel for the folks that have to do the actual work on this case. They have to deal with the terrible nature of the exhumations on one hand and corrupt managers on the other.
Solly Mack
(90,779 posts)SoapBox
(18,791 posts)I would rant but I'll save it for now.
To those that were murdered...
B Calm
(28,762 posts)StrictlyRockers
(3,855 posts)Can we get Buggs to do this for real? Or give it back to Spain, or something?
Catherine Vincent
(34,491 posts)I think this cold case needs to be opened up and get the FBI involved.
annm4peace
(6,119 posts)instead they investigate peace and social justice activists.
I doubt this is the only abuse and death of young people.
there needs to be more over sight of Juvenile detention places.