Death penalty expansion bills await Gov. DeSantis' signature
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Several bills passed during this legislative session could expand the state's use of the death penalty. This comes as Florida prepares to execute its sixth person this year. If there's no change, then that'll be the same number of people executed compared to all of 2023.
For one, the state could soon have additional options other than lethal injection or the electric chair, if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs House Bill 903.
DeSantis signs two new bills in Winter Haven
'In the event that our current methods are either unavailable or found to be unconstitutional, then the state can fall back on any method not deemed unconstitutional,' said State Rep. Berny Jacques, out of Clearwater.
Jacques proposed the measure that could open the door to options like lethal gas or a firing squad. The U.S. Supreme Court has not deemed those uses unconstitutional.
Jacques also worked on the House version of Senate Bill 1804 that could give prosecutors the green light to seek the death penalty over the human trafficking of children 12 and younger or trafficking those who are mentally disabled.
'That will live on with that child for the rest of their life, so it should not be that the perpetrator, the heinous individual gets the live the rest of their life on our dime,' he said.
Maria DeLiberato is the executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty.
'I see no evidence of this making us any safer,' DeLiberato said.
The organization leader said a life without parole sentence gives victims and loved ones closure faster. She also said the group has members who are either victims of or connected to victims of heinous crimes.
'I certainly understand their sort of visceral desire for it,' DeLiberato said. 'It really, in the long run, doesn't make financial or moral sense when we get it wrong so many times and we can safely house people in the Department of Corrections for the remainder of their natural lives without incidence.'
Pew Research Center finds most Americans favor a death penalty, but they also believe there's a risk.
Two other bills could allow jurors to consider the death penalty over attempted political assassinations and for capital crimes committed at schools, churches, or public meetings.
Earlier this year, DeSantis signed a bill mandating death sentences for those who are in the country illegally and convicted of first-degree murder. In 2023, the governor signed legislation that ended the unanimous jury requirement for the death penalty.
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