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PROSECUTOR'S DECISION REFUELS DEATH PENALTY DEBATE

By DARA KAM
THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

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THE CAPITAL, TALLAHASSEE, March 27, 2017......... Florida's death penalty has been roiled by controversy for decades, marred in the past by botched executions --- including one that resulted in the retirement of "Old Sparky" --- and, more recently, by court rulings condemning the way defendants were sentenced to death.

It's been more than a year since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, in a case known as Hurst v. Florida, put executions on hold and sent the death penalty into a state of limbo.

The latest controversy over a Central Florida prosecutor's decision not to seek death sentences in capital cases --- and Gov. Rick Scott's swift removal of her from a high-profile case involving an accused cop-killer --- has quickly galvanized longtime opponents of the death penalty.

"This could be the spark that sets it off for a real conversation nationwide, not just in Florida," retired Florida Supreme Court Justice James E.C. Perry, an outspoken critic of the state's death penalty system, told The News Service of Florida in a telephone interview. "Most transformative acts did not take a majority of the people. Only a few people started it, and it gained momentum. This could be one of those moments."

But Senate President Joe Negron said the controversy swirling around the death penalty almost certainly will not diminish lawmakers' support.

"There's a strong consensus that the death penalty is an appropriate sanction for certain horrific murders that are committed," Negron, R-Stuart, said. "I think that when the state is seeking to potentially execute a citizen for his crimes, there should be a very high level of scrutiny and due process. I also think that our current system provides that. I think it's important that in certain egregious cases the judge and jury should be given the legal option of the death penalty."

More than a decade ago, the American Bar Association called for a moratorium on Florida executions, based on a study that said the system was dogged by problems involving racial disparities, fairness and a lack of oversight.

More recent studies have provided additional evidence to bolster criticism of the death penalty in Florida, which leads the nation in Death Row exonerations.

Florida opponents of the death penalty, including many Democratic legislators, have renewed calls for a moratorium, seeking further review of geographic and racial inequities regarding who is charged with the death penalty and eventually executed.