Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson of Tallahassee demanded Friday that Charlie Crist veto $1.2 billion in budget cuts.
"The loss of 66 probation officers not only jeopardizes public safety, it puts more strain on law enforcement and our court system already stretched to the breaking point...These people are our first line of defense, the ones who monitor offenders released from prison, among them those charged with serious crimes, including sexual offenders."
His political segregation of the offender issue supports one of several findings by the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, a panel created by 49 state attorneys generals--including Florida's own Bill McCollum--to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online.
"Academics have identified a phenomenon that they call a “moral panic,” referring to situations in which the media and policymakers overreact to a perceive risk or threat that in fact is not as great as it is popularly portrayed"(...)
It is critical that policy makers based actions on risks that actually exist, rather than on the risks that are hyped to generate ratings in the news media."
The Internet Safety Technical Task Force--led by the prestigious Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University--concluded that online threats to youth are exaggerated, findings that run counter to popular perceptions of online dangers.
Child on child cyberbullying proved more prevalent.
As such findings also run counter to Florida AG Bill McCollum's political cyber policy, our state legislators--including Al Lawson --and congressional representation--specifically, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, PROTECT Our Children Act--are unlikely to be provided a copy of the ISTTF report, Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies.
The report may be downloaded here.
For those with hurried schedules, Radio Berkman discusses the findings of the report here.
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"...this study says what most intelligent people have been saying since the first time they saw this horrible (yet incredibly compelling) television program (To Catch a Predator): If NBC, their subcontractors Perverted Justice, or the police forces working these stings had any interest in protecting actual young people, they'd be surfing the web for real teenagers doing risky things (like chatting with predatory adults) and notifying each child's parents."
