Death Penalty Proposed for Child Rapists
April 12, 2023 | Florida
TALLAHASSEE – In a move that likely would spur a constitutional fight, Florida lawmakers appear ready to pass a proposal that would allow the death penalty for people who commit sexual battery on children under age 12.
The House is scheduled Thursday to take up its version of the bill (HB 1297), while the Senate version (SB 1342) was approved Tuesday by the Rules Committee, positioning it to go to the full Senate.
The proposal comes after decades of U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court rulings that have said it is unconstitutional to execute defendants in rape cases. A Senate staff analysis said nobody has been executed for a non-murder crime in the United States since 1964. (Excerpt from CBS News.)
