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Tribune News Service
Tribune News Service
National
Romy Ellenbogen

Florida bill seeks death penalty for child rapists, challenging US justices' prior rulings

Death Penalty Florida Ron DeSantis Berny Jacques Blaise Ingoglia Jessica Baker Jonathan Martin Stephen Harper Fla Florida Supreme Court

TAMPA, Fla. — Acting on a proposal from Gov. Ron DeSantis, Florida lawmakers filed legislation Wednesday to allow the death penalty for adults convicted of sexual battery of children younger than 12.

The bills would put Florida at odds with prior U.S. Supreme Court precedent saying that capital punishment can be applied only in the case of murder. But the bill sponsors — state Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, and state Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville — appear to be seeking a challenge of prior rulings.

A 2008 Supreme Court case, Kennedy v. Louisiana, and a 1981 Florida Supreme Court case were “wrongly decided and an egregious infringement of the states’ power to punish the most heinous of crimes,” the bills’ text reads.

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