Senate vote would bar death penalty for juvenile killers
But the House may not act; time is running short.
By Associated Press
Published April 28, 2004
TALLAHASSEE - Florida would fall into line with a growing number of states opposing the death penalty for juveniles, if a measure the Senate passed Tuesday makes it through the House.
Capital punishment would be reserved for murderers who were 18 or older when they committed the crime under the bill (SB 224) sponsored by Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa.
The measure wouldn't affect the fates of Florida's four current death row offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes.
Crist has been working on the measure for five years, beginning when he was in the House of Representatives. Though his proposal has passed both the House and Senate separately, it has never made it through both chambers.
That may be its fate again this year. With the session scheduled to end Friday, a House companion bill (HB 63) never made it through all its committees, and would need special authority to reach the floor. House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, a death penalty supporter, has blocked the bill in the past, but may be willing to let members vote on it this year.
"It's just the amount of time left in the session," said Byrd's spokesman, Tom Denham. "He's willing to let members vote their conscience on it. It's just got to make it up to the floor."
This year, Wyoming, North Dakota and New Hampshire legislators have passed laws similar to the Senate measure, although New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson said he will veto that bill.
Driving the measure is a U.S. Supreme Court case that will determine the constitutionality of executing juveniles. If the court rules against it, Florida's capital punishment laws, which make no separate provisions for minors, would be thrown out, Crist said. "It would immediately render the capital punishment program dysfunctional, and we'd have to come back and rewrite the law." Several senators said they wanted to mark the difference between juveniles and adults.
"There are horrible crimes committed by 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds, but you have to draw the line," said Sen. Rod Smith, D-Alachua, a former prosecutor.
Countered Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-West Palm Beach, also a lawyer: "I don't perceive 17-year-olds as children when they commit horrific adult crimes."
