Proposed legislation backed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis that would include the death penalty as a possible punishment for sexual battery could head to the Supreme Court.
As of Wednesday, Florida lawmakers had not yet passed Senate Bill 1342. However, it received unanimous “yeas” from the rules committee Tuesday.
Per the bill description, it would revise “how certain capital felonies are punished; requiring a court to conduct a separate sentencing proceeding to determine whether a defendant should be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole upon the defendant’s conviction or adjudication of guilt for a capital felony,” and more.
In January, DeSantis announced new “Law and Order” legislation goals that included “requiring convicted child rapists to serve at least life in prison and exploring options to make them eligible for the death penalty,” and a reduction in the number of jurors needed to make a death sentence recommendation.
“Other states endanger their citizens by making it easier to put criminals back on the street. Here in Florida, we will to continue to support and enact policies to protect our communities and keep Floridians safe,” said the governor, who is expected to be a Republican contender for president in 2024. “Florida will remain the law and order state.”
While Slate noted that the “Supreme Court of just 15 years ago clearly forbade what Florida is now trying to do,” it also noted that may be “the point” for state lawmakers. It would give the court an opportunity to revisit the Kennedy v. Louisiana decision that the death penalty applied to child rape would violate the Eighth Amendment preventing cruel and unusual punishment, the outlet explained.
“If a lawsuit were filed against the bill, it could tee up the matter for eventual review among the nine justices,” said the Washington Examiner.
According to the Tallahassee Democrat, DeSantis “has said he thinks the current, conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court may be willing to revisit the earlier ruling and allow death penalty in child rape cases.”
Last summer, the now conservative-leaning Supreme Court reversed decades of abortion protections established by Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs v.
Jackson Women’s Health opinion. Justice Samuel Alito penned that decision and he also wrote a dissenting opinion on Kennedy v. Louisiana that was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Clarence Thomas, said Slate. Both justices are still on the court.
“Even if the legislators’ speculations about the court’s views prove true, the bills still pose constitutional concern,” said Slate. “With this legislation, Florida will be an extreme outlier in capital punishment.”
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 27 states still have the death penalty in the U.S., 23 have abolished it and four have a hold on executions.
“The proposed legislation would also permit a presiding judge to override a jury’s recommendation of life and impose a death sentence,” said the center of the Florida bills. “Death sentences would be allowed if at least eight jurors agreed, creating the lowest threshold in the nation for the imposition of a death sentence. Only Alabama currently allows death sentences when the jury is not unanimous, and it requires at least 10 jurors to agree on death.”
Additionally, the Death Penalty Information Center said that the death penalty in the U.S. is “used almost exclusively for the crime of murder,” while the proposed laws would open up its use for rape cases.
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