The Pensacola News Journal posts the AP report, "Florida lawmakers look at speeding up death penalty." It's written by James L. Rosica. It's also available via the San Francisco Chronicle.
Florida lawmakers, also tired of the delays in carrying out death sentences, are trying to speed up the process.
Bills now in the House and Senate would create tighter timeframes for appeals and post-conviction motions, make it harder for inmates to dismiss their lawyers, and heighten the legal standards for pleading certain arguments.
Florida has 405 inmates on the death row, more than any other state except California, which has 724. It takes an average of 13 years to get from sentencing to execution.
But legislators will have to walk a high wire between speed and fairness. Twenty-four men have been exonerated from Florida's death row since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
"If we can't get that right, what confidence do we have that any part of our criminal justice system is working?" said Rep. Matt Gaetz, the Fort Walton Beach Republican sponsoring the Timely Justice Act in the House.
At the same time, "all of us can agree it should not take decades to ... effectively and efficiently deliver justice," he said.
Just how long legislators think it should take is unclear. The House bill's wording that originally said appeals should be resolved "within 5 years" was changed to "as quickly as possible."
And:
The Florida Legislature tried a previous overhaul, the Death Penalty Reform Act of 2000. It was shot down by the Florida Supreme Court, which called it an "unconstitutional encroachment" on the judiciary's rulemaking power. The high court then issued its own rule changes, which weren't strict enough for lawmakers.
The court, mindful of the latest bills, recently formed a committee of judges to again look into the capital punishment system and make its own recommendations.
"I know the court agrees with this mutual goal of moving these cases along fairly but expeditiously," said , the Florida Bar's liaison between the courts and the Legislature. "There are improvements that can be made."
Because it affects court rulemaking, Gaetz's bill would require a constitutional revision needing approval by 60 percent of voters on the next year's statewide ballot. If the court can come up with its own faster timeframe, Gaetz said he'd strip that section out of his proposal.
"Witness to an Execution: State Rep. Dave Kerner Watches Murderer Die," is the Broward-Palm Beach New Times report.
"Write what you know" is the cardinal rule of creative writing, and it would seem to be even more important in the writing of legislation. Bad literature can be ignored; bad law, not so much. State Rep Dave Kerner has taken that thought to heart.Kerner (D-Palm Springs) has played a major role in current efforts to rewrite Florida death penalty legislation, so he made it a point to be at Florida State Prison in Raiford on April 10 to watch prison officials, on behalf of the citizens of Florida, administer a lethal dose of chemicals to 59-year old Larry Eugene Mann.
Earlier coverage of the Florida legislation begins at the link; also available, coverage of the execution of Larry Mann.
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