2023-05-02 00:51:50
Alexandra Ferguson
(CNN) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed three “anti-crime” bills into law Monday, one of which would allow child molesters to be sentenced to death and the minimum sentence to be imprisonment. life without parole.
“We believe that in the worst of the worst cases, the only appropriate punishment is the maximum penalty, so this bill establishes a procedure to be able to challenge that precedent,” the Republican governor said at a press conference in Titusville, Florida. .
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This bill goes once morest a 2008 US Supreme Court ruling that prohibits states from applying the death penalty for statutory rape if the victim does not die. The high court ruled in Kennedy v. Louisiana that the Louisiana law imposing the death penalty for rape of a minor was unconstitutional under the Cruel and Unusual Punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment.
“However, with regard to crimes once morest the person, the death penalty should not be extended to cases in which the life of the victim is not taken,” wrote the then-justice of the US Supreme Court. ., Anthony Kennedy, in the majority judgment.
DeSantis’s action comes as the 60-day session of the Florida Legislature winds down this week. In the state capital, Tallahassee, GOP lawmakers have helped DeSantis rack up several political victories as his potential 2024 run for president is outlined, and he has already signed several high-profile bills, including a abortion ban, a measure to allow Floridians to carry concealed weapons in public and a review of the state’s tort laws.
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“In Florida, we stand up for the protection of children,” DeSantis said. “Unfortunately, in our society, you have very heinous sex crimes that are committed once morest children under 12 years of age.”
“The perpetrators of these crimes are often serial criminals,” the governor added. “We really believe that part of a just society is having a proper punishment. And so if you commit a crime that is really, really heinous, you should have the maximum punishment.”
The-CNN-Wire
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