The state's attorney general, Bill McCollum, explained the roots of the state's approach in the first paragraph of his brief in Graham's case. "By the 1990s, violent-juvenile-crime rates had reached unprecedented high levels throughout the nation ... Florida's problem was particularly dire, compromising the safety of residents, visitors and international tourists, and threatening the state's bedrock tourism industry." Nine foreign tourists were killed over 11 months in 1992 and 1993, one of them by a 14-year-old. Full Article at The Seattle Times