Tallahassee Bureau

Death penalty bill advances

By Bob Mahlburg
April 14 2004

TALLAHASSEE � A measure to raise the minimum age for the death penalty to 18 passed a key Senate committee Tuesday, moving Florida one step closer to joining a national trend of halting the execution of minors.

Wyoming and South Dakota last month became the latest states to ban juvenile executions, and the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this fall whether it is unconstitutional to put minors to death.

The Florida bill's sponsor, Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, is a strong supporter of the death penalty, but he said young people are different because they don't understand consequences like an adult.

"We still recognize people under 18 as minors," Crist said, noting they are not allowed to vote or have other adult privileges.

Crist, who is sponsoring the bill for the fifth time in five years, said he is confident it will pass the Senate, but he is less certain of the House, where Speaker Johnnie Byrd has said he opposes the move.

The Senate bill (SB 224) easily passed the Criminal Justice Committee after testimony that included a Chicago-area woman, Jeanne Bishop, who recalled how her pregnant sister was murdered by a 16-year-old. The killer was sentenced to life without parole rather than death.

"We got our justice instantly," said Bishop, a member of Murder Victims' Families For Reconciliation, a group of families of crime victims who oppose the death penalty. She said halting such executions also would avoid years of expensive court appeals and make sure innocent people are not put to death.

The federal government and 19 states already prohibit executing juveniles. Twelve other states have no capital punishment. Though 72 juvenile offenders are on death rows across the nation, three of them in Florida, juvenile executions are becoming increasingly rare. Florida has not put a minor to death since 1954, and only 22 juvenile offenders have been executed since 1985 -- most of them in Texas.

If Crist's bill becomes law, it could help convince the Supreme Court of a growing consensus against the juvenile death penalty.

Crist said his bill would make Florida law more reasonable and make sure the state keeps capital punishment. Otherwise, the Supreme Court might invalidate Florida's entire death penalty law, he said.

"I look at this as a win-win for both sides," Crist said.

Crist said he has gotten encouraging signals from the staff of Gov. Jeb Bush. "In discussions with members of his team, I've gotten the impression he would let this go," Crist said. A spokesman for Bush said he has taken no position on the bill.

The biggest obstacle may be Byrd, who has said he opposes a companion House measure (HB 63) sponsored by Reps. Gus Bilirakis, R-Tarpon Springs, and Frank Peterman, D-St. Petersburg. But Crist said he is thankful the speaker has allowed the bill to be heard by committees, and the key may be if he allows it to come to a full House vote.

The state's top legal and law enforcement officers, Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Guy Tunnell, also said they support the move.

"You need to show some compassion, but you can't forget the needs of victims," Tunnell said. "I'm a proponent of capital punishment but I think, generally speaking, this is a good thing."