DeSantis Says He’s an Equal-Opportunity Executioner

Ron DeSantis isn’t holding back when it comes to defending his race-blind approach to capital punishment.

If someone has committed a crime that merits the death penalty, the second-term Governor of Florida says it doesn’t matter if they’re Black or white.

Responding to an X follower’s highlighting of a quote from a former Democratic Governor of Alabama who “erroneously” claimed there was “racial bias” in DeSantis’ state execution decisions, he set the record straight and, true to form, blamed “leftists” for deliberate misinterpretation of the relevant facts.

“Put aside that capital punishment is authorized by juries, not the chief executive… We’ve administered 19 capital sentences — 16 of the 19 convicted murderers were white, three were black. And critics are saying this is racist? Just shows how cheaply leftists accuse people of racism. If someone commits a horrific crime and a jury approves a capital sentence, that convict should face justice no matter his race,” DeSantis posted to social media Saturday.

Alabama’s Don Siegelman recently lamented death penalty decisions. At the same time, he served as the final Democrat to be Governor of that state, pointing out in a recent op-ed that while juries decide the verdict at trial, the Governor ultimately makes the final call.

“Since Florida’s gov­er­nor is the sole offi­cial mak­ing these life-or-death deci­sions, it is up to him to ensure the exe­cu­tion selec­tion process is not infect­ed with racial bias.”

Siegelman spotlighted two recent people condemned to death: Curtis Windom and Kayle Bates, both of whom are Black. He also noted the racial identity of the victims whose deaths led to DeSantis’ execution orders, 95% of whom are white.

DeSantis has successfully sought to lower the threshold for state execution from unanimity to supermajority, which became law in 2023. He argued that “we can’t be in a situation where one person can just derail this.”

That same year, execution was made legal for people convicted of capital sexual battery on children 12 years of age and under.