DeSantis signs bills enacting death penalty for child rapists, fentanyl crackdown, more

TITUSVILLE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a slew of “law and order” bills Monday as he touted Florida’s stance to keep families safe.

“They just want to be in a place that takes public safety seriously,” DeSantis said.

The governor signed a bill to enact the death penalty for child rapists.

“If you commit a crime that is really, really heinous, you should have the ultimate punishment,” DeSantis said.

Sexual battery against a child under 12 years of age would be considered a capital offense, potentially punishable by the death penalty.

The legislation allows for defendants to be sentenced to death if at least eight out of 12 jurors recommend it. However, judges have the option to instead impose a sentence of life in prison. 

If less than eight jurors suggest the death penalty, then the defendant will receive a life sentence.

The bill cleared the Florida Senate 34-5 and the Florida House 95-14.

Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, and Rep. Jessica Baker, R-Jacksonville, carried the bills.

Martin acknowledged that the new legislation would go against existing legal precedent that prevents executing rapists, one landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision being Kennedy v. Louisiana.

“We have a completely different (U.S.) Supreme Court makeup,” Martin told Florida’s Voice. “We have a completely different Florida Supreme Court makeup than when Kennedy v. Louisiana was issued.”

The governor signed HB 1359 to punish crimes related to fentanyl distribution.

The bill makes it a first degree felony with a minimum mandatory imprisonment term of three years if someone sells, manufactures or delivers fentanyl with the intent to sell it.

For those 18 years or older who are convicted of trafficking in fentanyl or fentanyl analogues to a minor, the seller would face a mandatory minimum term of 25 years to life imprisonment, according to the bill’s analysis.

The governor explained that fentanyl could be put in items including candy, which is trafficked to children.

“And if you’re messing with children, you’re going to have the book thrown at you 100%,” DeSantis said.

“They need to be treated like murderers, because they are murdering people,” he said.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said the “poison peddlers” will think twice before packaging fentanyl appealing to children.

“I thank the legislature for recognizing the seriousness of this drug and making it a serious offense with now a 25 year mandatory sentence,” Moody said.

The bill was carried by Rep. Shane Abbott, R-DeFuniak Springs, and Sen. Danny Burgess, R-Zephyrhills.

Another signed bill, HB 1627, would standardize and expand pretrial detention offenses.

“This is kind of the anti-New York in terms of what we’re doing. They wanted to release. They wanted to basically say that a lot of these crimes should be treated with a slap on the risk,” DeSantis said. “We’re doing the opposite. I mean, we want to protect people from the criminal element.”

The law also requires the Florida Supreme Court to develop a uniform statewide bond schedule. The legislation prohibits a person from being released prior to first appearance if that person has been arrested for committing specific crimes.

DeSantis said the legislation will stop any “soft on crime” judges from “unnecessarily” releasing people.

“So that’s going to, I think, prevent some very pro criminal judges from releasing people back on the street who should not be released without having to post a bond,” the governor said.

The bill was carried by Rep. Sam Garrison, R-Fleming Island.