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http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...NEWS/605050380
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http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...No=60 5050380

Corporal punishment bill looks dead
By LIZ BABIARZ
TALLAHASSEE -- A bill that would strengthened the state's criminal
child abuse law appears to be dead, despite a push from Venice
parents who say their children were abused by day-care instructors
and a glitch in the law prevented justice.

The legislation, by Rep. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, would make
it a third-degree felony to use excessively harsh corporal
punishment on a child. It passed the House of Representatives
on Monday, but got bogged down in the Senate, where the
debate is focused on insurance reform legislation.

"The Senate is pretty much in disarray at this point, and
a lot of good bills are dying because of it," Detert said,
referring to a standoff over a voucher bill that froze
debate for half of Wednesday.

But it isn't just the power plays in the Senate that
killed Detert's proposal. Lawmakers in both houses
have concerns about the bill being too broad.

Under the proposal, criminal child abuse would include
"inappropriate or excessively harsh discipline" that
reasonably results in physical injuries, like sprains,
broken bones or welts, as well as mental injury,
which is left undefined.

Lawmakers such as Rep. John Stargel, R-Lakeland, tried
to clarify the language with amendments, but said
Detert was unwilling to compromise.

"She didn't want anybody to work with her," Stargel
said. "She said the bill was perfect."

Convinced it would open up a can of worms and cause
people to be arrested for acceptable punishment of
a child, 27 House lawmakers voters against the
bill on Monday.

The bill was even less popular on the Senate side.
It never made it out of committee.

And with a full agenda and one day left before
adjournment, it doesn't look likely the House
bill is going to cross over in time. Sen. Nan
Rich wants to amend another bill to include the
provision, but it looks unlikely her efforts
will succeed.

"Those are some pretty drastic measures and
when you do that at the end of session, it means
it wasn't something the membership was interested
in," explained Sen. Daniel Webster, R-Winter Garden.

Last modified: May 05. 2006 9:51AM



Frankly, Nancy Detert wasn't
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...ST36/604200401
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Apr 20, 2006 Whether it was bad
judgment or just bad luck, congressional candidate Nancy Detert
obviously did not hire the right guy to be her campaign treasurer. ...


$97K theft puts Nancy Detert's campaign in quandry
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...AKING/60420013
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - Apr 20, 2006 Congressional candidate
Nancy Detert is having a difficult time replacing money that was
stolen from her campaign bank account, and then returned. ...

Corporal punishment bill looks dead
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...NEWS/605050380
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - May 5, 2006 ... The legislation,
by Rep. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, would make it a third-degree felony
to use excessively harsh corporal punishment on a child.

Detert gets money back
http://www.heraldtribune.com/apps/pb...NEWS/605060311
Sarasota Herald-Tribune, FL - May 6, 2006 By JEREMY WALLACE.
Congressional candidate Nancy Detert has her once-missing
campaign money back and ready to help her try to win a seat in
Congress. ...
http://www.tallahassee.com/apps/pbcs...39/1010/NEWS01
Tallahassee Democrat, FL - May 5, 2006 ... Rep. Nancy Detert, R-Venice,
described the process of sending legislation to the Senate this way:
"It goes out of here a pineapple and it comes back a tuna."



--
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what
to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb
contesting the vote." - Benjamin Franklin