Gov. Jeb Bush signed the Martin Lee Anderson Act on Wednesday, nearly six months after the baby-faced 14-year-old suffocated after guards at a Panama City boot camp shoved and kicked him and forced ammonia capsules into his nostrils.
"This won't bring your son back," Bush told Anderson's mother and father as he signed the bill in his oak-paneled office suite. "But I hope you know your involvement in this process made a difference."
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Bush told a crush of reporters crowded around his desk that a liaison calls Hillsborough State Attorney Mark Ober every other day to check on the investigation. He also called for patience, acknowledging the frustration of protesters who continue to demand arrests.
"I'm frustrated because I know that they are frustrated," Bush said. "If there is grounds for pursuing some kind of charge, we want to make sure that it is backed up by a thorough investigation."
Gina Jones and Robert Anderson, the teenager's parents, met with Bush briefly before the bill-signing. They told reporters they were satisfied that the legislation would prevent the kind of tragedies that took their son's life.
Shortly after Bush signed the bill, Jones displayed a photo of her son in a green basketball uniform, cradling an orange ball and wearing an impish half-smile.
"I'd like to thank Governor Jeb Bush," Jones said. "But I would still like the guards to be held accountable for killing my baby. He was only 14 years old."
Martin was sent to the boot camp Jan. 5 for trespassing, a violation of his parole set for helping steal his grandmother's Jeep Cherokee from a church parking lot. The altercation with guards occurred on his first day at the camp and was caught on a security videotape.
Among other things, the legislation would create "STAR" academies, or boot camps modeled after a program in Martin County that places more emphasis on juvenile prevention programs and follow-up counseling when youthful offenders are released.
The bill also prohibits the use of ammonia capsules, limits corporal punishment, calls for more thorough screening before juvenile offenders are committed to programs and requires increased access to health-care facilities for juvenile detainees. The bill also requires anyone witnessing abusive treatment of juvenile detainees to report it to a hot line, similar to a law that mandates the reporting of child abuse.
An attorney for the parents who accompanied them to the ceremony, told reporters afterward that he was satisfied the legislation would have prevented Anderson's death had it been in place.
"They would not be allowed to use ammonia tablets up his nose," said attorney Ben Crump.
Not only did the death bring every parent's worst nightmare to life for the family, it also tarnished the waning months of Bush's final term in office. A protest spearheaded by Florida A&M students drew national civil-rights leaders to the Capitol during the legislative session, and Bush was forced to unceremoniously fire Guy Tunnell as head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement after Tunnell compared leaders of the protest to terrorists.
Jones declined to tell reporters what the family members discussed with Bush in the private meeting. Unlike earlier demands for swifter action, she said she was willing to be patient while the investigation continued.
"Martin is with us," Crump said as the entourage filed out of the Capitol.
Rep. Gus Barreiro, R-Miami Beach, who named the bill for Martin Lee Anderson during House debate, said in Miami on Wednesday that the new law represents a step toward changing Florida's approach to handling troubled teens.
"It's not just a name for a bill, it's a legacy," said Barreiro. "It really put a tone on the legislative session this year. We talked about a holistic way of treating kids."
tallahassee.com
