Florida's Judicial and Hearing Decisions

In the past four years seven people who had been condemned to die in the state of Florida for heinous crimes have been found not guilty after DNA results provided their innocence. Just this month, December of 2007, a man who had spent almost fourteen years behind bars for the murder of his sister-in-law, was released due to new evidence that proved he was not her killer. When asked by a reporter what he plans to do now, he responded, "Get out of Florida as fast as I can".

In a small county in Florida, a male teacher had undisclosed allegations against him and was immediately discharged even before he was given a chance to prove his innocence. He lost everything he had worked his entire adult life to achieve without any consideration to what he had to say. Rather than placing the teacher on leave until the issue was resolved, he was let go until his hearing.

In another small Florida county, another teacher was forced into signing her resignation due to allegations brought on by a student. Again, instead of placing the teacher on leave, she was also looked upon as guilty until she is given her chance to prove her innocence. In the meantime, the two teachers have been forced to regress in their careers as they try to make sense of what has happened.

From death row to a hard working teacher's livelihood, Florida seems to put the non-guilty and the accused into a position they find virtually impossible to disconnect from. They are placed in the guilty category as if being swept under a rug until their voice is heard. And even after they are heard and all guilt is rescinded, the mark haunts them for the rest of their lives.