Lawmakers push for Dozier apology
Dozier site ( FOX file / 2013)
TALLAHASSEE (FOX 13) - It’s a dark page in Florida’s history: The alleged atrocities that took place decades ago at the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Today, state lawmakers are apologizing for years of abuse.
The school in Jackson County is haunted with stories of alleged abuse -- mental, physical and sexual. And in 2012, a group of researchers from USF uncovered more than 50 bodies on the property.
Now, state lawmakers – including Attorney General Pam Bondi and House Speaker Richard Corcoran – are pushing legislators to pass a formal apology.
There was an emotional moment for victims who spoke at today's press conference.
“I would rather go back to the jungles of Vietnam. I would rather go back into battle than to spend a day at Marianna,” a former student said. “I am not what happened to me at Dozier. I am what I chose to become.”
The Dozier School for Boys first opened in 1900 and was the largest reform institution in the country.
The school eventually closed in 2011.
PHOTOS: Inside the Dozier School for Boys