Conversely, between 1992 and 1999, when Florida enjoyed economic growth rates similar to 1984-91, but also implemented tougher sentencing laws, crime rates significantly decreased, dropping by a staggering 36 percent. Florida is tougher on criminals today than at any time over the past 20 years. A study of 414,564 offenders sentenced to prison from 1979 to 1999 revealed that criminals sentenced to prison today would serve significantly longer time incarcerated than in the past two decades. The average prison sentence today will result in 5.4 years of imprisonment, a 218 percent increase from the average sentence of 1.7 years prisoners served 10 years ago. Violent offenders, on average, will serve 8.6 years in prison today, a 132 percent increase from 10 years ago.
Domestic violence continues to plague our society and our state.
In 1999, more than 126,000 domestic violence offenses were reported to law-enforcement agencies. This proposal will enhance the criminal penalty for repeat crimes involving domestic violence, increase funding for the construction and maintenance of domestic-violence shelters, and provide that domestic violence perpetrators must complete treatment programs as a condition of felony probation, which can help prevent future acts of domestic violence. The Governor recommends that offenders convicted of any crime involving domestic violence be required to pay a mandatory fine. The use of a mandatory fine in appropriate criminal cases will help fund domestic violence shelters and launch a public-awareness campaign. This campaign will warn would-be offenders that domestic violence is not tolerated in Florida.