TALHASSEE – Florida lawmakers want the death penalty mandate for immigrants in countries convicted of capital offences.
The idea is part of an immigration package that stems from a compromised deal between Gov. Ron DeSantis and legislative leaders aimed at strengthening President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. On Thursday, lawmakers passed an immigration bill, and DeSantis signed them.
Sen. R-Melbourne, Sen. Randy Fine, co-hosted the bill, which includes the death penalty proposal. He said the change was a priority for Trump.
But Congress’ proposals go beyond what Trump’s executive orders demand.
Among the surge in executive orders that Trump signed on his first day in office, he urges the U.S. Attorney General to pursue the death penalty for severe crimes, particularly “capital crimes committed by foreigners illegally present in this country.” There was someone there.
Trump’s order requires prosecutors to seek the death penalty, but will maintain the ju judge’s ability to deliberate whether the death penalty is justified.
Florida’s new laws are on the way further. The court states that “states the accused who is an unauthorized foreigner and has been found guilty or guilty of a capital felony against a death sentence.” It leaves no room for discretion of the jury or judicial court.
Stephen Harper, founder of Florida Capital Representatives Center at Florida International University, said it is unconstitutional to receive a forced death sentence.
Harper said the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that each individual ruling is required and that ry judges must weigh the worsening and mitigation factors.
“This is an issue with Amendment 8th, and the main thing about the Eighth Amendment is that it cannot be cruel and extraordinary punishment,” Harper said. “It would be cruel and unusual to kill someone who would not have been killed otherwise.”
The fine, co-sponsored by the bill, said the U.S. Supreme Court has not addressed the idea that illegal immigration is a worsening factor.
“This particular case has not been tested in court,” Fein said. “We’ll see what happens. I personally am optimistic.”
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court lawsuit that banned forced death sentences was a “base decision” that shaped many of the court’s subsequent decisions on death penalty. I stated.
The 1976 legal issue was one of five important cases in which the US Supreme Court believed to have reapproved the death penalty, Maher said.
“That’s why I say it’s extremely difficult to change this decision without confusing the important rationale that flowed through all the court’s jurisprudence,” Maher said.
Maher said a person’s legal status has never been used as a factor in aggravating death penalty cases. She said if lawmakers need forced death sentences on other subgroups, such as women and people of a particular race, people probably would say it’s inappropriate.
The Senate’s bill analysis is that the U.S. Supreme Court previously hit a forced death penalty sentence, and the new proposal could face conflict with another existing Supreme Court precedent limiting the death penalty for murder cases It points out that it is sexual.
In Florida, capital crimes include murder, trafficking of control substances in young children and sexual abuse. This means that the proposed bill could also administer forced death sentences for these crimes.
Florida lawmakers are already trying to challenge the ruling. In 2023, DeSantis promoted and acquired a bill that allowed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for child rape.
Florida also changed the Death Penalty Act in 2023 to allow 8 ju umpires to be killed from 12 ju umpires in exchange for demanding a unanimous sentence. The change will make Florida one of two states that do not require a full ju-seeker affirmation vote.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated after its initial release after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill.
