Reggie Garcia of Reginald R. Garcia, P.A., in Tallahassee wrote a legal article titled Parole in Florida: What, Who, When and Why? that was published by the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in its Defender magazine. Read more.

Felix Garcia is in prison for murder, his defenders say, in part because he did not want his hearing impairment to be mistaken for stupidity. Garcia, 52, is serving a life sentence for a August 1981 killing in a north Tampa motel room, the result of a drug robbery gone bad.  Despite an alibi that […]

Only six people in the past 10 years who were convicted on murder charges have had their sentences commuted. There's a case making news this week, however, on which Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Cabinet should be aligned to right a big wrong.  Felix Garcia, a 52-year-old deaf Floridian whose brother and sister framed […]

Tallahassee lawyer and lobbyist Reggie Garcia was recently elected to the Economic Club of Florida's Board of Directors, and appointed chairman of the membership committee. The E.C.F. is a leading forum for distinguished speakers on issues of the day. To date, there have been at least 456 distinguished speaker programs in Tallahassee.  Read more.

Homeowners insured by state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. would not be able to choose their own contractors or neutral contractors to fix sinkhole damage to their homes in a bill that passed through the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee on Tuesday.  Reggie Garcia, a lobbyist for the Florida Justice Association, a group representing trial attorneys […]

A contentious sinkhole repair bill finally passed muster with a Senate panel, which cleared it on Tuesday.  Trial-lawyer interests and others continued to point out the bills flaws. Among those, they say, it requires specific performance as a remedy for faulty repairs.  That means that the original contractor has to go back and fix his […]

Sen. Jeff Brandes bill attempting to encourage private insurance companies to offer flood coverage to homeowners passed through another Senate panel Thursday, but the measure has a longer journey to the Senate floor.  Reggie Garcia, lobbyist for the Florida Justice Association, a group representing trial attorneys and consumers, urged the committee to expand the definition […]

Though once a prominent feature of Florida's criminal justice system, parole's phase-out began in 1983 when the Florida Supreme Court promulgated the sentencing guidelines which became applicable to all felonies, except capital felonies, committed after October 1, 1983. Read more.

For more than 20 years, parole has been little more than an afterthought in Florida's criminal justice system, and it was abolished altogether for crimes committed after October 31, 1995. Between January 2010 and December 2012, only 135 inmates were granted parole after 629 were considered. And parole sentencing is also re-emerging as a key […]