On Jan. 7, 2021, the Badger Institute hosted a virtual discussion on Florida’s 2018 Criminal Justice Data Transparency Initiative, the nation’s most comprehensive criminal justice data collection law, with bill author and Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls and Right on Crime-Florida State Director Chelsea Murphy. 
“It was shockingly difficult for me to get the kind of data and information that I wanted about the criminal justice system.” – Florida House Speaker Chris Sprowls
“We came to this point several years ago where, like most legislatures throughout the country, like the federal government, having conversations about a criminal justice system, what works, what doesn't work, what's in the best interest of keeping crime low, best interest of taxpayers, best interest of public safety,” said Sprowls.
“What I found, as somebody who was a prosecutor and was intimately familiar with the criminal justice system from a day-to-day basis, was it was shockingly difficult for me to get the kind of data and information that I wanted about the criminal justice system."
Sprowls was the principal author of the transparency bill, which garnered bipartisan support.
“I have spent a lot of time on this issue,” he added. What I would tell you is, it is worth it. … It's something that will truly, truly have a radical impact (in a good way) on your state and on your criminal justice policy conversations.”
View the full video of the symposium here.
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