Loss of life Penalty
Florida instances in search of demise penalty for little one intercourse abuse may check precedent in Supreme Court docket
Two Florida prosecutions may check the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s 5-4 ruling in 2008 that held that the demise penalty for little one rape is unconstitutional. (Picture from Shutterstock)
Two Florida prosecutions may check the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s 5-4 ruling in 2008 that held that the demise penalty for little one rape is unconstitutional.
Prosecutors in Palm Seashore County, Florida, filed discover earlier this month that they intend to hunt the demise penalty for Josue Mendez-Gross sales, and his roommate, Pablo Cobon-Mendez, who’re accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a 6-year-old lady, the South Florida Solar Sentinel reviews in a narrative printed by the Tampa Bay Times.
And in Putnam County, Florida, prosecutors indicated in June that they’ll search the demise penalty in opposition to Dimeco Henderson, who’s accused of sexually abusing two kids over a three-year interval.
Florida adopted the demise penalty for little one rape in 2023, the primary to take action following the 2008 Supreme Court docket choice. Tennessee followed in 2024, and in 2025, Idaho, Oklahoma and Arkansas handed related legal guidelines, the South Florida Solar Sentinel article reviews. However Florida seems to be the one state that’s in search of the demise penalty in trials for little one sex-abuse instances, in line with Robin Maher, the chief director for the Loss of life Penalty Info Heart, a nonprofit group based mostly in Washington, D.C.
The Supreme Court docket dominated 5-4 in June 2008 that the demise 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 demise penalty for little one rape. He informed the South Florida Solar Sentinel that the legislation is designed to problem Supreme Court docket precedent as a result of it’s completely different than the one at concern in Kennedy v. Louisiana. The Florida legislation features a penalty section to contemplate aggravating and mitigating elements, in contrast to 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 lawyer and a former president of the Florida Bar.
“The place will the road be drawn and what different costs shall be included?” Suskauer requested in an interview with the South Florida Solar Sentinel.
She puzzled whether or not lawmakers will comply with with the demise penalty for little one pornography, for rape or for kidnapping.
“So the place does the road get drawn? You retain transferring the road, that’s a scary state of affairs,” she mentioned.
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