Loss of life Penalty
Florida circumstances searching for loss of life penalty for little one intercourse abuse may check precedent in Supreme Courtroom
Two Florida prosecutions may check the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s 5-4 ruling in 2008 that held that the loss of life penalty for little one rape is unconstitutional. (Picture from Shutterstock)
Two Florida prosecutions may check the U.S. Supreme Courtroom’s 5-4 ruling in 2008 that held that the loss of life penalty for little one rape is unconstitutional.
Prosecutors in Palm Seashore County, Florida, filed discover earlier this month that they intend to hunt the loss of life penalty for Josue Mendez-Gross sales, and his roommate, Pablo Cobon-Mendez, who’re accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old woman, the South Florida Solar Sentinel stories in a narrative printed by the Tampa Bay Occasions.
And in Putnam County, Florida, prosecutors indicated in June that they are going to search the loss of life penalty in opposition to Dimeco Henderson, who’s accused of sexually abusing two youngsters over a three-year interval.
Florida adopted the loss of life penalty for little one rape in 2023, the primary to take action following the 2008 Supreme Courtroom determination. Tennessee adopted in 2024, and in 2025, Idaho, Oklahoma and Arkansas handed comparable legal guidelines, the South Florida Solar Sentinel article stories. However Florida seems to be the one state that’s searching for the loss of life penalty in trials for little one sex-abuse circumstances, in response to Robin Maher, the chief director for the Loss of life Penalty Info Heart, a nonprofit group based mostly in Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Courtroom dominated 5-4 in June 2008 that the loss of life penalty for little one rape is unconstitutional below the Eighth Modification and the 14th Modification. Now-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote the bulk opinion within the case, Kennedy v. Louisiana.
The 4 justices who joined Kennedy’s opinion are retired or now not alive. Three of the 4 dissenters are nonetheless on the excessive courtroom: Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas.
Florida State Sen. Jonathan Martin, a Republican in Fort Myers, Florida, sponsored the Florida invoice authorizing the loss of life penalty for little one rape. He instructed the South Florida Solar Sentinel that the legislation is designed to problem Supreme Courtroom precedent as a result of it’s completely different than the one at problem in Kennedy v. Louisiana. The Florida legislation features a penalty part to contemplate aggravating and mitigating components, not like the Louisiana legislation.
Opponents of the brand new legal guidelines see a slippery slope. One critic is Michelle Suskauer, a West Palm Seashore, Florida, protection legal professional and a former president of the Florida Bar.
“The place will the road be drawn and what different fees will probably be included?” Suskauer requested in an interview with the South Florida Solar Sentinel.
She questioned whether or not lawmakers will comply with with the loss of life penalty for little one pornography, for rape or for kidnapping.
“So the place does the road get drawn? You retain shifting the road, that’s a scary state of affairs,” she mentioned.
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