Former Florida Gov. Bob Graham dies

Graham was Governor when Florida became the first State to have an involuntary execution following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Furman v. Georgia (1972) and Gregg v. Georgia (1976).

Former Florida Governor Bob Graham (D) passed away yesterday at the age of 87. Graham served two terms as Governor of Florida, serving from January 1979 through January 1987.

Graham was Governor when Florida became the first State to conduct an involuntary execution following the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decisions in Furman v. Georgia (1972) and Gregg v. Georgia (1976).¹ Florida’s first execution in 1979 was that of John Spenkelink. While Graham signed the warrant that led to Spenkelink’s May 25, 1979 execution, it had not been Spenkelink’s first warrant.²

During the litigation related to Spenkelink’s execution, crowds of death penalty opponents gathered around the Governor’s mansion in Tallahassee protesting the execution. Below is a photo of Graham outside the mansion speaking with the protesters. (Here is an article from the Washington Post about the protests.)

“Florida Governor Bob Graham talks to opponents of the death penalty at the gate of the governor's mansion after John Spenkelink was granted stays of execution by a federal appeals judge and a Supreme Court justice. The governor told the crowd that he respected their views concerning the death penalty.” Downloaded from Florida Memory, a project of the State Library and Archives of Florida

Protestors also crowded the lobby of the Governor’s office, according to an article by The Ledger. Later, Graham commented that Spenkelink’s execution “'was one of the most searing experiences of [his] governorship,” according to an article by The Ledger. In other interviews, Graham commented that signing death warrants was part of his job that brought great sadness.³

Throughout Graham’s term as Governor, Florida completed 16 executions, all by electrocution. A list of the executions can be found here.

1. Florida, Death Penalty Info. Ctr., https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/state-and-federal-info/state-by-state/florida.

2. Ron Word, Executions resumed 20 years ago with John Spenkelink, The Ledger (May 24, 1999), https://www.theledger.com/story/news/1999/05/24/executions-resumed-20-years-ago-with-john-spenkelink/26679022007/.

3. See William Saletan & Ben Jacobs, The Worst of Bob Graham, Slate (Sept. 2, 2003), https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/09/a-troubling-story-about-bob-graham.html.