Free Republic

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is pushing a tough-on-crime agenda 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 is backing a bill that would authorize the death penalty for child rapists. Under the legislation, a jury - by a vote of at least 8-4 - can recommend a death sentence for sexual battery on a child under age 12. 'We are authorizing the death penalty for child rapists,' DeSantis said Monday morning during an interview with an Orlando radio state. 'My view is...

Florida has somehow become an even more lethal place to live for queer and trans Americans, thanks to the passage of two new bills. The first, SB 1342, stipulates that child sexual abuse and acts of pedophilia may be punishable by the death penalty. The second bill would make it easier for a jury to send the accused to the gallows.

TALLAHASSEE - In a move that likely would spur a constitutional fight, Florida lawmakers appear ready to pass a proposal that would allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual battery on children under age 12. The House is scheduled Thursday to take up its version of the bill (HB 1297), while the Senate version (SB 1342) was approved Tuesday by the Rules Committee, positioning it to go to the full Senate. The proposal comes after decades of U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court rulings that have said it is unconstitutional to execute defendants in rape cases. A...