JUDGE AGAIN SURPRISES WITH DRUG CASE SENTENCE

TAMPA -- Circuit Judge Florence Foster faced a firestorm last month for
sentencing a small, white defendant to a drug treatment program instead of
prison.

Tuesday, over the objections of prosecutors,Foster sentenced 22-year-old
Marie Manning to a treatment program in Avon Park after Manning pleaded
guilty to trafficking in amphetamines.

The sentence was a surprise to prosecutors, who had sought the minimum
mandatory sentence of three years in prison.

Prosecutors originally said Foster had no discretion to lower the sentence
because state law required a mandatory three-year term. But according to
court records, Foster sentenced Manning on Tuesday as a youthful offender,
allowing her to break from state sentencing guidelines. After the drug
treatment program, Manning faces a year of community control, a form of
house arrest.

Manning qualified for the less severe punishment because she was a few
months shy of 21 when arrested last year.

Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi declined to comment Tuesday on the
sentencing, originally scheduled to take place Thursday. Foster changed the
sentencing date on the court calendar last week, according to court records.

The judge last month sentenced Paul Hamill, 41, to the drug treatment
program in Avon Park after he pleaded guilty to cocaine possession charges.
Prosecutors sought prison time in that case, too.

But Foster said she thought Hamill would become a target of sexual abuse in
prison because of his size and his race.

"When I looked at him he's a small, thin white man with curly dark hair,"
she said. "And I suspect he would certainly become a sexual target in the
Florida state prison system. And I've been told that they can't protect
people like that. I'm not going to send a man like this to Florida state
prison."

Foster's comment led to an avalanche of criticism from civil rights
leaders, who said her remarks showed how she took race into account in
court. Foster later apologized for offending anyone with her remarks.