DeSantis backs death penalty for child rapists

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing for a crackdown on crime ahead of an expected presidential bid with his support for two bills in the state legislature, including one that would challenge the U.S. Supreme Court.

DeSantis supports a bill that would allow the death penalty for child molesters. Under the law, a jury – by a vote of at least 8-4 – can recommend a death sentence for sexual assault of a child under age 12.

“We allow the death penalty for child molesters,” DeSantis said Monday morning during an interview with an Orlando state radio station. “My view is that you have some of these people who will be serial rapists of six-, seven-year-old children. I think the death penalty is the only appropriate punishment in such situations.’

However, in 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 ruling that the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishments prevented the death penalty for child molesters.

DeSantis is touting his crime credentials — a message Republicans found effective in the 2022 midterm elections — with his support for a series of bills in the Capitol.

Florida’s governor has criticized Democratic “soft-on-crime” policies and “wake ideology” in other states while promoting his own vision for America.

His repression is coming ahead of an anticipated announcement that he is running for president

He told the Orlando radio station that he thinks the current Supreme Court will appeal the older death penalty ruling for child rape. Many of the judges who made that ruling are no longer sitting on the bench,

“I think we are entitled to the law and I think the current court would consider a challenge to that,” he said.

He is also pushing for a second death penalty measure that would remove the requirement that only a unanimous jury can hand down the death penalty.

Gov. DeSantis backs a death penalty measure that would remove the requirement that only a unanimous jury can hand down the death penalty — it’s in response to Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz who was sentenced to life in prison after a divided jury could not agree on the sentence of the murderer. Capitol

Democratic Sen. Lauren Book of Florida, who is a victim of child abuse and represents the district with Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, supports DeSantis on the bills

The bill comes in response to outrage last year after a divided jury meant Parkland gunman Nikolas Cruz received life instead of the death penalty.

In 2020, the state Supreme Court said unanimous jury recommendations were not necessary, though the law is still on the books.

Now DeSantis is moving to have it removed. Under the law, at least 8 members of a 12-member jury would have to recommend a death sentence.

The bill was proposed after a 9-3 by jury in the Parkland case spared the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter from the death penalty.

And some Democrats in his state support his proposals, including Democratic state Senator Lauren Book, a child sexual abuse victim who founded the advocacy organization Lauren’s Kids.

She said it is justified to apply the death penalty to sex crimes against children.

Book also represents the district encompassing Parkland. She called Cruz’s decision a “gross injustice.”

Governor DeSantis supports a series of bills in the Florida State Capitol that crack down on crime

As DeSantis takes his book tour across the country — and in states important in the 2024 presidential election — he’s taking out prosecutors and those he considers “soft” on crime, such as cities controlled by Democratic mayors.

“Crime has gone up,” he said in Michgian earlier this month. “People have fled these jurisdictions because of their recklessness.”

And, he noted recently in Georgia, his state has rejected “soft crime policies” such as abolishing bail or jailbreak laws that let violent criminals get out of jail before they’ve served their sentences. And we have also raised the alarm about the growing trend of left-wing prosecutors being elected.’

After carrying out two executions in his first term, DeSantis has signed three death warrants so far this year.

“We are tough on crime and we support the men and women of law enforcement,” he said during his state speech in March.