Latest news with #FloridaCommissiononOffenderReview
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Editorial: Gov. Ron DeSantis goes on an execution spree
Gov. Ron DeSantis is on pace to set a record that no one should admire and that any Floridian of conscience should regret. He will finish his second term having carried out 48 executions, the most in Florida since records have been kept, if he continues at his current accelerated rate. Five executions have occurred since February, with two in May and two set this month — for a total of 14 as governor. In the previous year and a half there were only two, which gives rise to wonder: Why the sudden rush? Is it another sign that he's planning another run for president in 2028? Would he campaign as the governor who tried to empty his state's death row? His press office hasn't answered questions about whether he intends to keep it up or how he selects which prisoners to execute. About 125 of the 271 inmates on death row are considered vulnerable, having exhausted their first rounds of appeals. But some of the longest-serving inmates still have lingering doubts about the integrity of their convictions. DeSantis' predecessor, Rick Scott, put 28 inmates to death, the most by any governor since 1979 when Florida resumed executions after a nationwide hiatus imposed by the U.S. Supreme Court. The most ever — 35 — occurred under Gov. Spessard Holland during World War II, but he also commuted some death sentences to life in prison, as did every other governor of his time. Bob Graham was the last to do so, in 1983. During nearly half a century before 1972, Florida governors chose mercy 55 times while carrying out 195 executions, a clemency rate of 22%. In 1992, Gov. Lawton Chiles considered a commutation for Danny Doyle, a mentally handicapped murderer from Broward, but he couldn't get enough elected Cabinet members to consent. They agreed only to postpone the issue for 25 years. Doyle remained on death row that long and longer before the state attorney and a Broward judge quietly agreed in 2023 to resentence him to life with no prospect of parole. Recent governors act as if they either consider the courts infallible or don't care about it. They no longer bother to explain why they reject clemency pleas. They don't hold public hearings, as their predecessors did. Instead, applications are heard at the inmate's prison by a panel consisting of a governor's representative and two members of the Florida Commission on Offender Review. Their meetings and reports are secret. Humans should not be treated that way — no matter what they may have done. There should be nothing secret about it. Since the Supreme Court allowed executions to resume, Florida has executed 111 death row inmates with only six commutations, all by Graham. He said two of the men he spared might be innocent, that one sentence was inappropriate for the crime and that three were sentenced more harshly than co-defendants who were at least as blameworthy. Graham exercised clemency to compensate for how courts sometimes get it wrong and refuse to correct its mistakes. A much wiser Florida Supreme Court once acknowledged the system's fallibility. In upholding the state's new death penalty law in 1973, the majority promised to review every death sentence so that 'only the most aggravated and unmitigated' crimes would result in executions. That recognized a moral responsibility to try to balance the scales, but the court no longer tries. A conservative court filled with DeSantis appointees renounced proportionality and culpability reviews that were benchmarks for fairness. The majority sees no problem in executing someone whose co-defendant might have been more culpable but was smart enough to cop a deal to elude the death penalty. The court backtracked on requiring all 12 jurors to agree to a death sentence. That cleared the way for DeSantis and the Legislature to set the death sentence vote to as few as eight out of 12. That's worse even than Alabama, the only other non-unanimous state, where the threshold is 10 votes. Alabama, however, has a governor, Kay Ivey, who hasn't forgotten clemency. In February, she commuted a man's death sentence to life in prison because of 'enough questions about guilt that I cannot move forward with executing him.' The Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops responds to each DeSantis death warrant with a plea for commutation to life in prison without parole. His office acknowledges receiving the letters but does not reply. Every murder is heinous, but only some draw the death penalty. No one who understands the process pretends that it's a deterrent anymore. It is irreparably capricious, arbitrary and error-prone, and that's a particular concern in Florida, where 30 former death row inmates have been exonerated — more than in any other state. We hope Florida's next governor will know better than to assume the courts unfailingly get it right, because they don't, and an unflinching rush to execution assures that, eventually, an innocent person will die. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board includes Executive Editor Roger Simmons, Opinion Editor Krys Fluker and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. The Sun Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Executive Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant, Editorial Page Editor Steve Bousquet, Deputy Editorial Page Editor Dan Sweeney and editorial writers Pat Beall and Martin Dyckman. Send letters to insight@
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
'Juvenile Lifers' lose parole challenge in appeals court
A federal appeals court Tuesday rejected a constitutional challenge to the state's parole system by inmates who were sent to prison decades ago for crimes they committed as juveniles. A three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower-court ruling in a class-action lawsuit that alleged violations of the U.S. Constitution's Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment and due-process rights. Florida eliminated parole in the 1980s and 1990s, but the case focuses on inmates who were sent to prison before the elimination. The ruling said about 170 current inmates were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for crimes committed as juveniles — what it described as 'juvenile lifers.' It said the Florida Commission on Offender Review, which reviews parole cases and, among other things, sets what are known as 'presumptive parole release dates,' has released roughly two juvenile lifers a year since 2012. 'The practical upshot is that the overwhelming majority of juvenile lifers have presumptive parole release dates so far in the future that they may well die in prison,' the ruling, written by Judge Kevin Newsom and joined by Judges Jill Pryor and Barbara Lagoa said. The case, at least in part, involved a series of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court since 2010 about sentencing of juveniles. As an example, a 2010 Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Graham v. Florida, said states must provide juveniles convicted of non-murder crimes 'some meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation,' according to Tuesday's ruling. As another example, a 2012 Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Miller v. Alabama, said the Eighth Amendment forbids mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juveniles convicted of murder. The ruling said the plaintiffs in the class action argued that the 'meaningful opportunity' standard in the Graham decision should also apply to juveniles convicted of murder. But it said the Supreme Court had not approved such an extension of the standard and rejected the notion that that parole system is a 'sham.' Also, the ruling said the parole system offered a 'meaningful opportunity' for juveniles convicted in non-murder cases. 'Since 2012, the commission has granted parole to at least 24 juvenile lifers who would otherwise be part of the certified class — on average, about two every year,' Newsom wrote. 'Given that about 170 juvenile lifers remain incarcerated, the math works out to about 1% of the juvenile-lifer population obtaining release yearly. Florida's system may not be a particularly generous one, but it's hardly a sham. The upshot: When the juvenile lifers were convicted, decades ago, their sentencers genuinely had the discretion to choose a sentence of less than life in prison (as required by the Supreme Court's Miller decision). So, with respect to the homicide offenders, the Eighth Amendment claim fails.' Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Florida ‘inmate bill of rights' would require improving prison conditions
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa Bay lawmaker is fighting for legislation that would protect the rights of prisoners in the state's corrections system. And while sympathy can sometimes be hard to come by for those behind bars, former corrections workers and the families of prisoners say it's time for those attitudes to change. If passed, the bill would create an 'inmate bill of rights,' which would include sufficient mealtimes, health supplies, air conditioning or cooling units, and emergency food supplies when needed. Inmates would be provided with a written copy of these rights upon entering the system, and they would be able to file grievances if their rights are denied. Schemes targeting Tampa Bay seniors surge 400%, retired FBI agent says The sponsor behind the move says this may be the year the bill is actually lawmakers, families, and former corrections workers gathered at the statehouse, calling for action and accountability to improve the treatment for Florida inmates. 'A just society doesn't abandon people once they're behind bars,' said State Senator Rosalind Osgood (D- Fort Lauderdale). 'For too long, our criminal justice system has overlooked the basic rights and dignity of incarcerated individuals. House Bill 185 is a critical step toward ensuring that every person within our correctional system is treated with fairness, humanity, and respect. This bill not only establishes clear rights for inmates but also ensures they are fully informed of those rights, creating a more transparent and accountable prison system,' said State Representative Dianne Hart (D-Tampa).Keith Harris, a parole specialist who has represented over 35 inmates before the Florida Commission on Offender Review, stands firmly behind House Bill 185.'I would have gotten him out on parole, but he died. Three days nurses with Centurion medical care walked by his cell and they never said a word to him. They never looked in there, they never did anything to help,' Harris said. 'Our medical care today, the prison system is an abyssal level. It is beyond belief what's going on.'Former sergeant and whistle blower in the Florida Department of Corrections, Mark Caruso, is also calling for change, not only for inmates but for the staff as well. 'When I reported these abuses, I faced retaliation. I was fired three times. But I refuse to stay silent,' Caruso said. 'Investing in better prison conditions isn't just about the inmates. It's also about supporting those who uphold the system every day.' The bill has been refiled for a fifth time by Representative Hart, who is hopeful committee chairs will hear the latest legislation this session.'I am open to massaging any of the bills that I carry. I will be and have been talking to his staff around what they think will make a good bill that palpable by my Republican colleagues,' Hart has one more year left to make this bill heard next session. The senate sponsor of the bill, however, says she will continue to refile for the years to come. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
