Legislative Update: Drug Bills Seek to Expand Capital Murder
Companion bills seek to broaden the scope of capital murder for drug-related crimes.
We’ve covered the proposed legislation seeking to make it easier to sentence defendants to death in the State of Florida. (Yesterday’s update on that legislation can be found here.)
We’ve also covered the proposed legislation seeking to expand the death penalty for sex crimes despite U.S. Supreme Court directing that the bills violate the Eighth Amendment. (The post on those bills can be found here.)1
But wait, there’s more. In another pair of bills proposed this legislative session, the Legislature seeks to broaden the scope of capital murder by lowering the standard for establishing capital murder related to drug trafficking.
Proposed Bills
The companion bills (SB 280/HB 365) are identical and propose to expand the definition of capital murder as a murder:
Basically, the bill broadens the definition of capital murder in an effort to expand crimes that would be punishable by death. If anyone 18 years or older “distribut[es]” any of the listed “substances” and such substance “cause[s], or is proven to have been a substantial factor in producing” the death of the user, it is a capital crime punishable by death. This “substantial factor” standard replaces the current standard of “proximate caus[ation].”
The House bill was heard in the House Justice Appropriations Committee hearing on March 15, where this purpose was confirmed.
The Senate Criminal Justice Committee passed the Senate bill by a vote of 6-2 on February 14, 2023.
On March 15, 2023, the House Justice Appropriations Committee passed the House bill by a vote of 11-4. A video of the hearing can be found here.