The Tristin Murphy Act
This week Florida legislators convened their annual 60-day session and one of the very first bills they took up was Senate Bill 168 – the Tristin Murphy Act. It is a major development in the aftermath of our CBS News Miami documentary "Warehoused: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy." The President of the Florida Senate is making passage of the bill a priority.
It is designed to reform how mentally ill people like Tristin are treated in the state's criminal justice system by offering them treatment rather than prison. Tristin killed himself violently, during a prison work detail. Jim takes us inside the bill's first hearing in front of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee, where a variety of law enforcement officials and state politicians testified.
Tristin's mother Cindee, who has been fighting tirelessly to get the bill before legislators, was also at the hearing. She was accompanied by her grandson and Tristin's son Cody. Cindee left the room speechless when she read a letter that Cody had written.
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