Christian Parker was convicted of burglary of a dwelling with a weapon, grand theft and possession of marijuana in August of 2007. Christian’s girlfriend at the time, Janet Schalow, was his co-defendant. According to police reports and the victim/homeowner it was Ms.Schalow that was inside the dwelling and Christian never entered. It was also noted in the police report by both the officer and the property owner that it was Ms. Schalow who had the weapon.

Ms.Schalow was actually inside the dwelling when the homeowner unexpectedly returned. She Escaped from a window, and when the victim pursued her, she turned and threatened him with a knife. Even though it was confirmed that Ms. Schalow was the only one inside the dwelling and the only one that held the weapon, during her interrogation she accused Christian of making her commit this crime and giving her the knife to do so. This resulted in him being designated the principal by the state’s attorney, and he was charged with burglary of a dwelling with possession of a weapon even though he did not have physical possession of the weapon nor was he inside the dwelling.

Christian was sentenced to life plus 81 years for property crimes where nobody was physically harmed. His co-Defendant, the person who actually entered the residence and held possession of the weapon, received 5 years of probation.

Christian was sentenced under Florida’s recidivist sentencing laws.. Under these laws, if an individual is released from prison after serving time for a crime that carried a sentence of a year or more, and within three years after their release they commit any of a list of certain felonies, which are defined in Florida Statute Sec. 775.082 (9) (a), they are labeled a Prisoner Releasee reOffender (PRR) and sentenced under PRR law. PRR eligible crimes carry harsh and excessive mandatory sentences, and it is the state’s attorney that has the sole discretion to seek a PRR sentence. Only the opinion of the victim (which the state’s attorney in Christian’s case never sought) may be considered for a deviation in these mandatory sentences.

Judges have no discretion in these cases and cannot divert from the mandatory sentences. According to one judge, the process of PRR sentencing “raises more than one judicial eyebrow.” In other court opinions, Judges have stated that if they had a choice, they would not sentence young offender to these harsh sentences, some for crimes where nobody was physically harmed, as in Christian’s case.

Under PRR sentencing, the charge of burglary of an occupied dwelling with a weapon carries a life sentence on its own. None of the circumstances of Christian’s case were considered before sentencing him to life plus 81 years. And, according to Florida law, they could not be. What Should be considered is the predicate crime that was used to qualify Christian as a PRR. An arson conviction that was committed at the age of 14.

Although the Florida courts have denied this argument previously, Supreme Court cases such as Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida and Miller v. Alabama, designated death and life without parole sentences for both non-homicide and homicide cases unconstitutional for those under the age of 18, acknowledge that juveniles are different from adults and should be treated differently in our criminal justice system. Using a crime committed as a 14 year old to require the court to give a now 21-year-old re-offender life in prison for a crime where no violence occurred is not taking into account the opinions and true sentiment of the justices in these landmark cases. 

Unfortunately, Broward County is no stranger to egregious behavior and misconduct within their criminal justice system. The judge that presided over Christian’s trial, Ana Gardner, was disbarred for engaging in a personal relationship with a prosecutor during a capital trial. This occurred during the same time period Christian’s trial occurred. The state’s attorney that prosecuted Christian’s case, Julie Vogel, was suspended by the Florida Bar for listening to attorney/client privileged telephone calls in a homicide case in conjunction with another Broward County prosecutor. Christian’s court appointed attorney, Adam Serper, was disbarred after three grievances were filed with the Florida Bar and it was uncovered that he had a severe substance abuse problem. Mr. Serper has even provided a signed, sworn affidavit acknowledging his failure to provide Christian with effective representation.

Despite the existing research and case law addressing under-developed cognitive abilities and lack of culpability in those under the age of 25, Florida continues to use juvenile convictions to enhance sentences under PRR laws, and they continue to incarcerate young offenders to disproportionate, excessive mandatory sentences at alarming rates. In fact, there were 123 prisoners affected by the Graham decision, wherein it was found unconstitutional and an 8th amendment violation to sentence anyone under the age of 18 to life without parole in non-homicide cases. Of those 123 cases, 77 of them were from the state of Florida.

The life plus 81-year sentence that Christian received would indicate that he should be classified among the “worst” offenders. But the facts are that the crimes that earned him that sentence were not heinous crimes and involved no violence on his part. A life plus 81 year sentence, given the circumstances of the crimes committed, is grossly disproportionate.

Christian is now 37 years old. He has spent over 20 of those years in detention and prison beginning at the age of 15. It is not justice for someone to die in prison for a crime where not only was there no loss of life, but there was no physical harm to anyone. Christian was never given a chance of redemption nor transformation. As a juvenile, those who research show are most likely to be rehabilitated, he was offered nothing to effectuate such rehabilitation.Something the state of Florida has an obligation to do according to their youthful offender act. In Christian’s case, they failed terribly.

The state of Florida needs serious reform to these recidivist sentencing laws. Over 300 million dollars is spent every year incarcerating those who have received life sentences even though these sentences have proven to make no difference in recidivism rates. That makes these laws not only unjust but fiscally irresponsible. Reform of these laws is essential to Florida taxpayers,but most importantly, it is essential for those who have faced the manifest injustice that they cause.