Gov. DeSantis further expands capital punishment in Florida
On Tuesday, hours before the State executed Anthony Wainwright, Gov. DeSantis signed into law a new law that expands capital punishment to non-homicide child sex trafficking.
On Tuesday, at a press conference in Jacksonville hours before the State executed Anthony Wainwright, Gov. DeSantis signed into law a new law that expands capital punishment to non-homicide child sex trafficking. My original post about this legislation can be found here.
In talking about the laws he signed at the press conference, he commented on the 2023 legislation he signed for non-homicide sex crimes, stating: “I signed the legislation to reinstitute the death penalty for pedophiles. I think that that’s appropriate when you’re doing this stuff.”
Related to the bill signed Tuesday, DeSantis said it “piggy backs” on the capital sex bill signed in 2023. You can watch the press conference below:
Rep. Jacques, who sponsored the House bill, was present at the press conference.
As TFDP previously discussed, this legislation violates long-standing precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court establishing that it violates the Eighth Amendment to sentence anyone to death for a non-homicide crime.