Political Quotes

“It did begin in Florida. The judge in Miami that originated the program is still presiding in it and has had hundreds of success stories. What is remarkable is that they show a 90-percent success rate, and then in terms of recidivism, it increases. They have situations where as much as 95 percent of the graduates do not return to a life of crime. Now, how best then can we work to try to help people? You know something else, too, my colleagues, most of these people who talk about crime have not been in a criminal courtroom, have not had to sentence somebody, have not had to stand with somebody that was sentenced. They have this notion that comes from this air-conditioned Capitol about what happens on the street. These judges are in the trenches in Florida, and in Maryland and elsewhere in these drug courts, and they see these youngsters. They are not the hardened criminals, but they are the people that can become the hardened criminals.”