Remains of 55 bodies found near former Florida reform school

Reuters via Yahoo! ^ | 1/28/14 | Bill Cotterell

[Slings and Arrows]

TALLAHASSEE (Reuters) - Excavations at a makeshift graveyard near a now-closed reform school in the Florida Panhandle have yielded remains of 55 bodies, almost twice the number official records say are there, the University of South Florida announced on Tuesday.

"This is precisely why excavation was necessary," said USF professor Erin Kimmerle, head of the research project. "The only way to truly establish the facts about the deaths and burials at the school is to follow scientific processes."

On a hillside in the rolling, tall-pine forests near the Alabama-Georgia border, a team of more than 50 searchers from nine agencies last year dug up the graves to check out local legends and family tales of boys, mostly black, who died or disappeared without explanation from the Dozier School for Boys early in the last century.

The school, infamous for accounts of brutality told by former inmates, was closed by the state in 2011.

[Gene Eric]

Cogent? How’s this:

Holy Crap, Mike Lee spoke about “reform” in response to Obama’s SOTU. Jeez!!!

[Pecos]

Obviously, the flu epidemic was racist.

[DoodleDawg]

Nearly 100 children died while at the school, according to state and school records, many as a result of a tragic dormitory fire in 1914 and a deadly flu epidemic in 1918.

The dorm fire killed 6. How many died from the flu and how many were murdered?

[Wu]

me also.

[Scoutmaster]

This school was known for its torture, mistreatment, and staff murder of youth for over seventy years. The small building where beatings and torture took place was closed by the State of Florida in a public ceremony a few years ago, and the building was sealed with a plaque.

This school was truly a horror of horrors for youth, white or black.

[Vinnie]

I had a 16 y.o.friend sent to Marianna for stealing a car. A scared kid.
He came back 18 months later a mean bulked up badass.

[Slings and Arrows]

Doesn’t sound very reformed.

[Vinnie]

When graduated from Marianna you were ready for a life of crime.
IIRC he took his father’s car for a joyride.
Back in the 50’s that’s all it took.

[Slings and Arrows]

*low_whistle*

[Jackson Brown]

“Reform” is an ominous word.

Just like "fundamentally transform the United States"

[Nifster]

And what the heck does that have to do with a story about additional dead bodies...???

Or are you just dumb enough to think that using the word reform some how makes it a joke???

[Gene Eric]

I’m thinking you might be dumb enough to lecture me on the dumb assumption I am joking. Anything else, genius?

[Slings and Arrows]

More succinct, but same principle.

[MplsSteve]

Jeez, that story almost reminds reminds me of the 1980 movie “Brubaker”.

[MaxMax]

I cannot fathom the type of true evil that ran a place like that.
Hell has a special place for that kind of evil, below hell.

And those who believe that being evil will be granted respect in hell are very mistaken.

[Gene Eric]

The misunderstanding aside, Mike Lee stated the following in his response:

Senator Rand Paul and I are working with some of the most liberal Democrats in Congress to reform the federal criminal-justice system - to help keep violent predators behind bars while creating opportunities for reformed, non-violent offenders to return to the families and neighborhoods that so desperately need them.