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It Is Unconstitutional, But Florida Lawmakers Approve Death Penalty in Child Rape Cases

April 18, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 7 Comments

Florida's actual death row. (Florida State Prison)
Lawmakers want more people on death row. (Florida State Prison)

The Florida Senate on Tuesday passed a bill that would allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual batteries on children under age 12, sending the issue to Gov. Ron DeSantis.

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Lawmakers hope the bill (HB 1297) will ultimately lead to the U.S. Supreme Court reversing a 2008 decision that barred the death penalty for people who rape children. The state House passed the bill last week.




Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book, a Davie Democrat who was sexually abused as a child, implored senators Tuesday evening to vote for the bill. She said people who sexually abuse children are “called predators for a reason, because they stalk and hunt down their prey.”

“There is no statute of limitations on this crime (for victims),” Book said. “There is no end. It’s always with you.”

The Senate voted 34-5 to pass the bill, with the dissenting votes cast by Sen. Lori Berman, D-Boca Raton; Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami; Sen. Erin Grall, R-Vero Beach; Sen. Rosalind Osgood, D-Fort Lauderdale; and Sen. Geraldine Thompson, D-Windermere. The House voted 95-14 to approve the bill, which DeSantis is expected to sign.

Sponsors of the bill have been upfront about hoping the bill will be a vehicle to get the U.S. Supreme Court and the Florida Supreme Court to reconsider legal precedents that have blocked executing rapists. In a somewhat-unusual move, the bill specifically says the Legislature finds that a 1981 Florida Supreme Court decision and the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision, in a case known as Kennedy v. Louisiana, were “wrongly decided.”

Senate bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, a Fort Myers Republican who is a former prosecutor, pointed to the Florida Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court becoming more conservative after appointments in recent years.

“We have a completely different (U.S.) Supreme Court makeup,” Martin told senators. “We have a completely different Florida Supreme Court makeup than when Kennedy v. Louisiana was issued. I know everybody in this room hopes that nobody is put to death for this crime. Because if someone is put to death for this crime, it means that a poor innocent child was raped.”

Under the bill, defendants could receive death sentences based on the recommendations of at least eight of 12 jurors. Judges would have discretion to impose the death penalty or sentence defendants to life in prison. If fewer than eight jurors recommend death, defendants would receive life sentences.

Currently, unanimous jury recommendations are required before judges can impose the death penalty in murder cases. But lawmakers also have passed a bill that would allow death sentences in murder cases after recommendations from eight of 12 jurors. DeSantis also is expected to sign that bill.




The death-penalty bills would affect what is known as the “sentencing phase” of cases. Juries would still need to unanimously find defendants guilty of the crimes before the sentencing phase would begin.

Osgood, who cast one of the dissenting votes Tuesday, described the child-rape bill as a “quandary” for her.

“I love kids, and I’ll do anything to protect them,” Osgood said. “But I struggle from a faith perspective. If I believe in my faith that God can redeem and save anybody, then how do I support someone getting the death penalty? And I’m just talking about me. That’s my struggle. That’s my challenge.”

But Sen. Jason Pizzo, a Hollywood Democrat who is a former prosecutor, said people who sexually abuse children can’t be rehabilitated.

“There is nothing more heinous than touching and abusing a child,” Pizzo said.

—

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–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. R.S. says

    April 19, 2023 at 5:48 am

    Death is no penalty if it’s to correct behavior of the culprit; it simply throws someone onto the trash pile. No penalty is a deterrent; the statistices show that clearly. Otherwise, states with the harshest penalties should be the safest places with the lowest crime rate. And they are not. Furthermore, the system is ripe with errors: people are in jail for years and are exonerated with more evidence or a better legal eagle. The system is bent in favor of wealth; poverty is the ultimate crime. Scandinavian countries have the kindest treatment of jailed persons. They also have a recidivism rate of 20 percent, while here the recidivism rate is at 70 percent. Why are people so incredibly stupid as not to see the evidence? Is it really so much fun to get even?

    Reply
  2. Deborah Coffey says

    April 19, 2023 at 6:01 am

    The Republican lust for killing seems to know no bounds. Right now, Ron DeSantis is the most dangerous man in America. He’s become crazed by an infinite thirst for power.

    Reply
  3. Carol says

    April 19, 2023 at 7:09 am

    [Please comply with our comment policy. Thank you.–FL]

    Finally something that a Democrat and I can agree on. It is not unconstitutional. No adult should be raping a child and if they do, what makes you think they can be rehabilitated? They can’t. I agree with this bill 100%, because if someone raped my child, there wouldn’t be a trial for that criminal, I would handle it myself!

    Reply
  4. Rainbow Warrior says

    April 19, 2023 at 7:54 am

    Another attack on the LGBTQP community. Stop the insanity.

    Reply
    • Leila says

      April 19, 2023 at 9:59 am

      Rainbow Warrior, how in the heck is this to be considered an attack on the LGBTQP community???

      I’m with Carol on this one. Rape destroys lives.

      Reply
  5. Jackson1955 says

    April 19, 2023 at 12:38 pm

    Without a doubt, this will decimate the Republican Base.

    Reply
  6. Jackson1955 says

    April 20, 2023 at 1:43 pm

    Without a doubt, this new law will devastate the Republican Male base.

    Reply
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