The recent Sarasota Herald-Tribune editorial “Smart justice is a wise choice for Florida” caught my attention for advocating for an intelligent approach to criminal justice reform. In Miami-Dade County, I have long championed a Smart Justice approach as my prosecutors work to protect the residents of our community.
This story was originally featured in the Crime Report published by the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.
COVID-19 has caused many businesses in the Miami-Dade region to cease operation, but it has not prevented us or the courts from doing our jobs.
At the Miami-Dade County (Florida) State Attorneyâs Office, we are doing our part to prevent the virus from spreading while fulfilling our public safety responsibilities.
We partnered with local stakeholders, including the courts, the Clerkâs Office, Corrections, and the Public Defenderâs Office and defense bars to develop and execute measures that ensure the wheels of justice keep turning.
Drawing on our prior experience managing other major crises like hurricanes, we transitioned to âmission-criticalâ status quickly and smoothly.
The Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS) publishes its Justice Evaluation Journal four times each year. The peer reviewed journalâs recent edition features an article authored by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Chief Assistant State Attorney Stephen Talpins. Entitled â21st Century Prosecutions â Miami-Style Smart Justice,â  the article highlights the State Attorneyâs Office that strategically addresses offenders as individuals and employs an evidence-based outcome-oriented approach that maximizes public safety, provides avenues for rehabilitation, saves jail and prison space for the most dangerous offenders, minimizes unintended collateral consequences, meets crime victimsâ needs, and reduces costs.
MIAMI (WSVN) – A man was convicted of hate crime charges and sent to prison after he yelled homophobic slurs and beat up two gay men while they were walking their dog in downtown Miami. Quenton Moss was sentenced to two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to hate crime charges connected to a battery on May 18. Click here to view the complete story.
Each month, the National District Attorneys Association publishes The Prosecutor magazine, the premiere publication for prosecutors around the country. This monthâs edition features an article by State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle and Chief Assistant State Attorney Stephen Talpins. The duo partnered to inform the nation about, â21st Century Prosecutions âMiami-Style Smart Justice.â
The article reads: Historically, prosecutors and judges relied almost exclusively on punitive measures, most notably jail or prison sentences, to address and deter criminal activity. However, the traditional punitive approach to justice is unduly expensive, does not work as well as it should, and has unnecessary and devastating consequences for lower level offenders and their families. Thus, we do things differently in Miami-Dade County, Florida. We distinguish between offenders who can be rehabilitated from those who present a real, present, and future danger to our society. We strive to rehabilitate those we can help, while incapacitating those who would do our community real harm despite our best efforts to assist them.
In 1989, we created the nationâs first drug court. Since that time, much has changed, though our approach to justice has not. While more and more district attorneys have begun to experiment with what some call âprogressiveâ solutions, strategic remedial measures that reduce crime,
improve lives, and save money are a matter of tradition in Miami-Dade County. Click here to access the complete article.
While they were looking at some financial discrepancies… they then discovered these violations of Florida’s election laws.
– State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle