GOP Governor Signs Bill That Imposes Death Penalty on Child Rapists

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that would impose the death penalty on convicted child rapists.

WLTR reported last month that Florida lawmakers were pursuing legislation that would “allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual battery on children under age 12.”

State Lawmakers Pursuing Death Penalty for Child Rapists

HB 1297 passed the Florida Legislature and Gov. DeSantis signed the bill into law.

The bill will likely be taken to the Florida and/or U.S. Supreme Court.

"In the past, the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment in rape cases is unconstitutional," WLTR noted.

The bills argue that the court cases were “wrongly decided.”

CBS News noted:

In a rebuke of the court precedents, the House and Senate bills say that a 1981 Florida Supreme Court case and a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case were “wrongly decided,” with the Senate version saying “such cases are an egregious infringement of the state’s power to punish the most heinous of crimes.”

Senate bill sponsor Jonathan Martin, a Fort Myers Republican who is a former prosecutor, said the bill would create needed “constitutional boundaries by providing a sentencing procedure for those heinous crimes” that would be similar to death-penalty laws for murder.

“If an individual rapes an 11-year-old, a 10-year-old, a 2-year-old or a 5-year-old, they should be subject to the death penalty,” Martin said Tuesday after the Rules Committee approved his bill.

Aaron Wayt, who represented the Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers at Tuesday’s meeting, said people want “vengeance” when children are victims of sexual battery, but he pointed to U.S. Supreme Court precedent on the issue.

“This bill invites a longer, costlier (legal) process for the victim and their family that they will endure,” Wayt said. “While this crime, anyone convicted of it is vile, heinous, the Constitution itself, the case law, the Supreme Court demands a maximum of life in prison. And so while it’s not the vengeance we all want, it’s the justice that the Constitution demands.”

WLTR noted:

The outlet reported that the bills could allow defendants to receive the death penalty based on the recommendations of at least eight out of 12 jurors.

Ultimately, judges would have the discretion to sentence defendants to the death penalty or life in prison.

Unanimous jury recommendations are currently required before judges can impose the death penalty in murder cases.

However, Florida lawmakers are voting to change the requirement to recommendations of at least eight out of 12 jurors.

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Gov. DeSantis wrote on Twitter Monday:

Today, I signed legislation that will:
- Makes child rapists eligible for the death penalty with the minimum sentence of life in prison without parole
- Impose additional penalties on fentanyl and drug-related crimes targeted at children
- Protect Floridians from disastrous bail “reform” policies

Today, I signed legislation that will:
- Makes child rapists eligible for the death penalty with the minimum sentence of life in prison without parole  
- Impose additional penalties on fentanyl and drug-related crimes targeted at children
- Protect Floridians from disastrous… pic.twitter.com/sO1mkcfm0a

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 1, 2023

"In Florida, we believe it’s only appropriate that the worst of the worst crimes deserve the worst of the worst punishment," DeSantis wrote.

WATCH:

In Florida, we believe it’s only appropriate that the worst of the worst crimes deserve the worst of the worst punishment. pic.twitter.com/pOg4UYe92m

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 1, 2023

Watch the full speech from Gov. DeSantis below:

Governor DeSantis Signs Anti-Crime Legislation https://t.co/NxSN1Utj0z

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 1, 2023