Crist has been doggedly reminding people: He says he is a pro-gun, anti-abortion, small-government conservative who worships Ronald Reagan.
He says he is against gay marriage, frugal (he pays off his single credit card every month) and despised by criminals (he once proposed that chain gangs be reinstituted, earning him the nickname Chain Gang Charlie).
Source: New York Times on 2010 Florida Senate debate
, Jan 10, 2010
Stop Turning Out Prisoners: serve at least 85% of sentence
Crist received invaluable experience in Florida's criminal justice system while interning in the State Attorney's Office.
In 1992, he won a seat in the Florida Senate, where he represented the interests of citizens concerned about such issues as
education, crime, the environment and elder affairs. During his six years in the Senate, Crist served as Chairman of the Senate Ethics and Elections Committee and as Chairman of the Appropriations Criminal Justice Subcommittee.
A strong voice for public safety, he sponsored, among other legislation, the Stop Turning Out Prisoners (STOP) bill requiring prisoners to serve at least 85 percent of their prison sentences.
This achievement earned him numerous honors, including appointment as an Honorary Sheriff by the Florida Sheriffs Association--only the third person to receive the honor in the organization's long history.
Supports 10-20-Life and Stop Turning Out Prisoners program
In the Preamble to the Constitution, one of the primary roles of government is defined as ensuring domestic tranquility, which means keeping our people safe. We are fulfilling this responsibility with tougher laws and increased enforcement along with
crime prevention strategies within the criminal justice system. Effective legislation such as Stop Turning Out Prisoners and 10-20-Life is making an impact on the crime rate, while the Anti-Murder Act will prevent future tragedies.
And we must also work together to address crime in our state, including gang activity.
I was proud to launch the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit in 2005 to thwart the actions of those who target our children.
Attorney General Bill McCollum has made fighting this crime a top priority.
Supports 10-20-Life and Stop Turning Out Prisoners program
And we must also work together to address crime in our state, including gang activity.
I was proud to launch the Attorney General’s Cyber Crime Unit in 2005 to thwart the actions of those who target our children.
Attorney General Bill McCollum has made fighting this crime a top priority.
Source: 2008 State of the State Address to Florida legislature
, Mar 4, 2008
Proposed the Anti-Murder Act
I have proposed the Anti-Murder Act. I have witnessed firsthand the unimaginable limits of human grief when a parent loses a child to violent crime. Until you have listened to a father or a mother who have seen the light of their lives extinguished
by the monstrous assault of a violent felon, you cannot know the enormity of the threat we face. We owe our parents the simple assurance that we have done everything within our power to prevent these atrocities from ever happening again.
Source: 2007 State of the State Address
, Mar 6, 2007
Require that prisoners serve at least 85% of their sentences
As a State Senator, Charlie fought for and passed the STOP (Stop Turning Out Prisoners) legislation that required, for the first time, that prisoners serve at least 85% of their sentences.
