State Attorney General Charlie Crist has asked for a review of some former cases of the Bay County medical examiner, Dr. Charles Siebert, who determined Martin died of sickle cell trait, not his rough handling by guards.

Siebert, who is vigorously defending his professional findings, said Crist was responding to politics, and has called the attorney general's move a "witch hunt."

Gov. Jeb Bush - who has questioned the autopsy result, saying it "defied common sense" - has signaled he approves of the boot camp changes.

'DOESN'T WORK'

Martin County Sheriff Bob Crowder praised the Legislature, but expressed concern that the tight-fisted lawmakers and the DJJ have not fully funded many aspects of the juvenile justice system, including his camp, which he is shutting down. Still, he said, the state rightly decided to move away from aggressively handling youth.

"The in-your-face intimidation doesn't work, " he said. "It not only hurts the kids, it's stressful on the staff. No one wants to spend all day pushing kids and yelling at them."

MORE TO BE DONE

Critics of the state's juvenile justice agency say much remains to be done.

State Rep. Dan Gelber, who helped spark the campaign for change with Barreiro when both men described Martin's ordeal to The Miami Herald after viewing the tape, said he was not "celebrating" the new law because it highlights a pressing concern: The DJJ seems capable of improving only following the death of a child and the outrage of lawmakers.

"I'm not sure the department has convinced anybody it's capable of conducting adequate oversight, " Gelber said, noting a recent Herald report that showed DJJ officials had been aware of 180 incidents of physical force against youths in Bay County but failed to raise any red flags.

"This is the same point we've always been at with the Department of Déja Vu, " said Gelber, a Miami Beach Democrat. "We are implementing constant reforms to compensate for the absence of oversight. We shouldn't operate that way. It shouldn't take a child's death to focus on an area that should have been previously scrutinized."