Bills filed in both the Florida Senate and House that would allow the death penalty for child rapist
A child being raped could easily be seen by most of society as the most heinous of all crimes. Does it deserve the death penalty? Florida Action Committee does not take a stand on this issue, but there are some facts to consider.
Separate bills in both the house and senate have been filed that would eliminate the requirement for unanimous verdicts by juries to implement the death penalty. A jury vote of 8 to 4 would be the minimum vote required to impose the death penalty.
According to ABC First Coast News, public defender Teri Sopp thinks these bills are a bad idea as “Florida leads the nation with 30 innocent people exonerated from death row since 1973 – one third of the number of people who have been executed…It (the death penalty) is administered unfairly to persons of color, persons with intellectual disabilities, and persons with mental illness.”
Florida statutes does NOT allow courts to consider dementia.
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The death penalty is not about justice. It is vengeance. I find the elimination of a unanimous decision in favor of a supermajority will only cause more problems than solutions. I suspect that it would only be a matter of time before the definition of what sex crimes are eligible for the death penalty are expanded.
This one should be a collaboration with Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty http://www.fadp.org Please contact Maria De Liberato at [email protected] and Mark Elliott at [email protected]. Thanks. Capital Punishment/the Death Penalty as much as the Public Sex Offender Registry as much as the Civil Commitment of those deemed Sexual Predators are all Cruel and Unusual Punishments. There are a lot people who are guilty of Homicide as much as those who are guilty of Sexual Assault/Sexual Battery who are Deeply Remorseful and Repentant and Deeply Detest the Harm that they caused. Remember that these are the two groups of Convicted Felons/Returning Citizens that Re-Offend the Least back in Society in Single Digits Recidivism between 1 and 9 Percent. Lets find ways to help Rehabilitate people Convicted of Violent Crimes and Encourage them to become Redeemable Human Beings.
When I read about some of Florida’s policies, once again I am not surprised. I love living in Florida, but it is some of Florida’s ‘do-gooder’ politicians who make it uncomfortable. We never know from one session to the next what some ‘off the wall proposal’ a politician will come up with. It may sound good, but does nothing to solve anything.
To be honest, I’m surprised Florida didn’t propose this a long time ago.
But who wants to bet that anyone sentenced to death under this law (should it pass) will still be on the registry?
Actually, capital sexual battery (rape of a child under 12) has been a capital offense for decades in Florida, I think actually all the way back to the current version of the state Constitution. But there have been two court decisions — one in the Florida Supreme Court and another in the United States Supreme Court — which are referenced in the bills that declared the punishment unconstitutional for this offense.
Interestingly, the United States Supreme Court specifically pointed out that if the penalties for raping a child and murdering a child are the same (i.e., death), then child rapists are more likely to murder their victims since the offender may perceive it as reducing the risk of being caught. It also reduces the chance that some victims will come forward, particularly if the offender is a family member.
I don’t think this type of law will stand under the Supreme Courts decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana.
I am personally against the death penalty for any crime – that aside, Florida is notorious for vague laws. My issue is the scope of the definition of child rape?
Floriduh will make any attempts to further their punishment on us. This is absurd, that they would even consider it. Death for a living victim offense. I understand that they are a heinous crime, but it’s not a deadly crime. This country, and especially this state has gone to hell.