Mandatory Minimums & Life Without Parole in Florida: Why We Must Challenge Them
By Truth Behind the Bars
The Promise vs. The Reality
In theory, sentencing in America should balance punishment with fairness. Judges are supposed to consider whether someone is a first-time offender, a young adult, or a minor participant in a crime. But in Florida, that balance is broken.
Florida’s mandatory minimums and life without parole (LWOP) laws strip away judicial discretion, forcing courts to impose the harshest possible penalties — often on people with no prior record.
Florida now holds over 10,000 people serving LWOP, more than any other state in the country.
What Should Happen to First-Time Offenders?
Across the U.S., most states recognize that first-time offenders deserve a second chance:
Federal courts: First-time offenders score lowest on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Nonviolent first-timers may qualify for probation, community service, or the safety valve to avoid mandatory minimums.
Georgia: Has a First Offender Act allowing many to plead guilty, complete probation, and avoid a conviction record (serious violent felonies excluded).
California: Offers diversion for some misdemeanors and drug cases.
Alaska: The only state that does not allow LWOP at all — all life sentences have parole eligibility.
But in Florida, there is no broad first-offender statute. A 18-year-old first-timer caught up in a felony-murder (that did not commit the murder) case is treated the same as a hardened repeat offender.
Florida’s Mandatory Minimums and LWOP
Florida’s laws are among the harshest in the nation:
Mandatory LWOP for felony murder: If someone dies during a felony (robbery, burglary, etc.), all participants can be sentenced to LWOP — even if they didn’t kill anyone. (Ex. Ryan Holle)
No parole: Florida abolished parole in 1995. Life means life.
10-20-Life law: Gun involvement brings mandatory add-on years (10, 20, or 25-to-life), even if no one is shot.
This is how Florida built one of the largest life-sentenced populations in the world.
🌟Ryan Holle was convicted under Florida’s felony murder rule after he lent his car to a friend, who drove off with others and committed a burglary during which a woman was killed — even though Holle was physically miles away, asleep, and never pulled the trigger. He received life without parole, the same sentence as the actual killer and co-defendants, despite his more peripheral involvement. In 2015, his life sentence was commuted by Governor Rick Scott to 25 years, and he was released in 2024 after serving much of that time.
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Who Is Fighting Back in Florida?
Baxter v. Florida DOC – A man sentenced to LWOP under felony murder despite being far removed from the actual killing is challenging the statute’s fairness.
Juvenile & youthful offender cases – After Graham v. Florida (2010), LWOP for juveniles in non-homicide cases was struck down. In 2024, Massachusetts went further, banning LWOP for 18–20 year-olds. Michigan has also limited mandatory LWOP for that age group. Florida has not.
Amicus briefs – Groups like The Sentencing Project and FAMM have filed “friend of the court” briefs in Florida cases, arguing that mandatory LWOP violates constitutional proportionality and global human rights norms.
What Is an Amicus Brief?
Amicus curiae means “friend of the court.”
An amicus brief is a legal filing by someone who is not a party to the case but who has expertise or a strong interest in the issue.
They provide data, history, and policy arguments the parties may not include.
They show judges the wider consequences of their decision.
They’re often filed by advocacy groups, academics, or even government agencies.
What’s Happening in Other States?
Florida is falling behind. Across the country, reforms are happening:
Massachusetts (2024): Banned LWOP for 18–20-year-olds (Commonwealth v. Mattis).
Michigan (2023–2024): Struck down mandatory LWOP for ages 18–20; judges must now review each case individually.
California: Expanded parole eligibility and created more resentencing opportunities.
Pennsylvania & Louisiana: Still impose mandatory LWOP for felony murder — but face increasing challenges.
Alaska: No LWOP at all, proving extreme punishment is not necessary for public safety.
By the Numbers – LWOP in the U.S.
Top States by LWOP Population (2024 census):
Florida – 10,915
California – 5,111
Pennsylvania – 5,059
Louisiana – 3,900
Michigan – 3,551
These five states account for nearly half of all LWOP cases in the U.S.
Truth Behind the Bars: Why This Matters
Florida’s sentencing scheme means:
First-time offenders can die in prison.
Young adults are treated no differently than the actual killer.
Rehabilitation and redemption are denied by law.
Mandatory minimums and LWOP don’t make us safer — they make us less just.
That’s why we fight to expose these cases and demand change. Through public education, coalition work, and tools like amicus briefs, we can push Florida to catch up with the rest of the nation.
Because injustice doesn’t end at sentencing. It lives inside the bars.
The Human Cost: Families Torn Apart, Tax Dollars Wasted
Every person sentenced under Florida’s mandatory minimums or LWOP laws isn’t just a number — they are someone’s son, daughter, brother, sister, mother, or father.
When Florida condemns first-time offenders to die in prison, it also condemns their families to a life sentence of loss:
Children grow up without parents.
Parents live their final years without ever hugging their child outside a prison wall.
Families scrape together money for phone calls, commissary, and endless legal fees, all while enduring the shame and stigma society places on them.
And the burden doesn’t stop with families. It falls on every Floridian’s shoulders.
Housing a single person in prison costs taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars each year.
When that person is sentenced to LWOP, the bill runs into the millions over a lifetime.
All for someone who, in many cases, was a first-time offender, never pulled a trigger, or was barely an adult when they made a mistake.
This is not justice. It is waste.
Where is the humanity in locking away someone forever without considering their potential to change? Where is the mercy in treating a teenager who made a bad choice the same as a career killer? Where is the wisdom in draining tax dollars to warehouse people who pose no future threat?
Florida’s sentencing laws claim to protect society, but in reality, they destroy families, waste resources, and ignore redemption.
If justice has no room for humanity, then what kind of society are we building?
Here’s what the data shows — and what remains uncertain — about how much Florida spends on inmates, especially those serving LWOP:
What We Do Know
Annual cost per inmate
According to the Florida Legislature’s “Criminal Justice Impact Conference,” in FY 2021–22 the full operating cost per inmate in state facilities was $74.44 per day, i.e. about $27,171 per year (excluding some debt service or indirect costs). (Econ Demographics Office)
More recent projections show rising costs: by FY 2024–25, the per-inmate cost is forecast at roughly $30,316 per year in operating costs. (Econ Demographics Office)
Note: these “full operating costs” include security operations, health services, and educational services. They do not include “debt service costs” (e.g. construction financing) or certain overhead/administrative burdens. (Econ Demographics Office)
State corrections budget & trends
Florida’s Department of Corrections is one of the largest state agencies; over time, even when the prison population has fallen, the DOC budget has grown. (Florida Policy Institute)
In 2017–18, Florida’s DOC budget was about $2.4 billion, with estimated cost to house an inmate then at $21,743 per year. (OPPAGA)
According to The Marshall Project, Florida spent over $300 million in one year to house prisoners serving life sentences (including LWOP). (The Marshall Project)
Florida’s prison infrastructure is old and decaying; independent reports estimate that repairs and modernization will cost billions (between $6.3 billion and $11.8 billion) over time. (Axios)
The Gaps & What We Don’t Know
We don't have a public breakdown of how much is spent specifically on LWOP inmates vs. non-LWOP inmates.
The full lifetime cost (i.e., over decades) per person serving LWOP is rarely calculated in state budgets — most figures stop at annual costs.
Overhead, capital expenditures, deferred maintenance, and healthcare for aging incarcerated people often fall outside the “operating cost” line items and aren’t always transparent.
What This Means: The Reality Behind the Numbers
Florida is spending tens (even hundreds) of millions annually just to maintain its LWOP population.
Because life-sentenced inmates never leave, their cumulative cost is enormous over decades — money that could have gone to schools, health care, infrastructure, or reentry programs.
The fact that per-inmate cost is rising even as the population falls shows that fixed costs (staff, facilities, systems) dominate — incarcerating someone forever is expensive whether you have 1 or 10,000 more inmates.
The Price of Injustice: What Florida Really Pays
For example, consider one actual inmate in Florida. At 18 years old, in 2007, a first-time offender made a mistake that lasted just two minutes. No one was harmed inside the store, no shots were fired, and no life was lost at the scene.
A year before Trial 1, a civil jury found the store owner — who initiated a high-speed chase — negligent. Expert testimony from Mr. Bopp confirmed the pursuit was an independent act that caused the fatal crash. This finding should have carried weight in the criminal case, but it was suppressed.
Then, in Trial 1, the judge granted a motion for judgment of acquittal on the premeditated murder theory of Count 1. By law, that ruling should have barred the State from retrying him on the same death under a different theory. But prosecutors ignored these protections, violating double jeopardy and collateral estoppel.
The outcome: after repeated prosecutions, the young man was sentenced to life without parole, despite being a non-shooter, first-time offender and a CPC score of 15.4years. He has now been imprisoned for more than 17 years — condemned to die in prison under laws that ignore both justice and truth.
Here’s what that costs you, the taxpayer:
Florida spends about $30,000 per year to house each inmate.
Over 10 years, that’s about $300,000.
Over 30 years, more than $900,000.
If he lives to age 70, the state will spend $1.5–$2 million just to keep him in prison.
And for what? A first-time offender who never pulled the trigger, convicted under laws the rest of the world considers outdated and unjust.
Now multiply that by the 10,000+ people serving LWOP in Florida. We’re talking billions of tax dollars poured into locking people away forever — money that could be invested in schools, healthcare, mental health treatment, victim services, and community safety programs that actually work.
The truth is clear: Florida’s LWOP system isn’t just unjust — it’s fiscally reckless.
Where is the humanity in condemning someone for life for a two-minute mistake as a teenager? Where is the wisdom in wasting millions to keep first-time offenders locked away forever?
This is not justice. This is cruelty, and we are all paying the price.
