So far this year, Florida has executed seven people, more than any other state; at the same time, Gov. DeSantis continues to sign bills expanding the state’s death penalty statutes, making it easier for juries to recommend a sentence of death. “He will finish his second term having carried out 48 executions, the most in Florida since records have been kept, if he continues at his current accelerated rate,” the Orlando Sentinel noted in an editorial.
DeSantis isn’t done yet. He signed the state’s eighth and final death warrant for this year for July 15, when it plans to kill Michael B. Bell.
In 2023, when DeSantis ran for president, he signed six death warrants. But in 2024, there was only one execution. So this year, the Sentinel asks, “Why the sudden rush?” And answers its own question with another question, “Is it another sign that he’s planning another run for president in 2028?”
It certainly appears that DeSantis believes human sacrifice is his ticket to the White House.
In the past two years, he has signed three bills that greatly expand the state’s death penalty. And all three are unconstitutional. One expands death penalty eligibility to a person convicted of the rape of a minor, and the State Attorney has already announced that he plans to seek the death penalty in the case of a man charged with possible sex crimes against two children.
Another requires a mandatory death sentence for any undocumented immigrant convicted of a capital felony. The third and most recent adds another aggravating factor to consider in a capital trial. That bill makes it easier to apply death sentences to defendants found guilty of murder if the crime occurred at school, religious, or public government gatherings.