Why are there only embers left of the state's original fire to exhume bodies and unearth the truth at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys?
It seems so unnecessary that a University of South Florida student has to cobble together a petition drive to get state authorities to follow through on their own initiative.
What's going on? You have to ask yourself, are there unseen forces at work to make the grim truth of what happened at this hell-hole less important in July than it was in May? Something doesn't feel right here.
When Attorney General Pam Bondi filed a petition in March for a court order to exhume human remains on the Marianna site, she was full of commitment, full of sound and fury on behalf of families trying to bring closure to the unexplained death of loved ones at Dozier. She said she would do anything in her power to support the investigation into the alleged abuses -- abuses that included flogging, sexual assault and, possibly, murder.
"The deaths that occurred at Dozier School for Boys (largely between 1900 and 1952) are cloaked in mystery, and the surviving family members deserve a thorough examination of the site," Bondi said.
Bondi did a lot of good things. She met with families looking for grave sites.She supported a 150-day extension of an injunction barring the sale of the state-owned Dozier property. She let fly with a public pronouncement of outrage, a kind of cleansing for many -- a proper response for a state that for 111 years virtually used the school to throw children away.
But then along came Judge William L. Wright to rule on the petition and in so doing, muddy the waters. He served up his order under the title, "Order Denying Petition." Only he didn't really deny it. All he did was urge Bondi to "proceed with caution."
In a nutshell, Wright said this: An attorney general and the medical examiner don't need my permission to dig up remains and perform autopsies, but even if I gave it, it wouldn't supersede due process or grant immunity if the exhumations were botched.
The USF team exhuming remains then applied to Secretary of State Ken Detzner for an archaeological permit to complete the work. Last Monday Detzner responded in a letter -- permission denied.
He said his department doesn't have the legal authority because body recovery doesn't constitute archaeological research. Such permits, he wrote, are "restricted to the recovery of objects of historical or archaeological value, not human remains."
Bondi's office, meanwhile, assured me that the attorney general's staff "met with the University of South Florida to determine what options are available, and we will continue to meet with them and support efforts to obtain answers to the many questions surrounding the deaths at the Dozier School for Boys."
University spokeswoman Lara Wade-Martinez said Bondi and USF both agree that Detzner "misunderstood his office's authority and jurisdiction under Florida law. "The discovery of human remains requires state action under Florida Statutes section 872.05. ... We fully intend to present our position to Secretary Detzner in the near future."
What a crock. Sen. Bill Nelson was right when he called it a "classic runaround."
This is a state university looking for clues to the whereabouts and identity of state residents, and the circumstances surrounding their deaths -- all on state property. And it is highly qualified to do so. What could be the bureaucratic baloney holding these exhumations up? Already USF researchers have verified the deaths of two adult staff members and 96 children -- boys between the ages of 6 and 18.
I am still waiting to hear from Pam Bondi why she needed to issue a permit in the first place. She is the attorney general, the state's chief legal officer, correct? Aren't the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the FBI crime lab available at her request? Is there any constitutional nuance I'm unaware of that requires her to dance around Ken Detzner?
As far as I know, in the state of Florida there is no statute of limitations on murder, which these Dozier boys may well have been. Florida shouldn't need a student's petition to do what's legally and morally right -- respect the dead and their families.
What are we waiting for?
Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423.
