DeSantis silent as Florida execution spree nears state record
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Faith leaders deliver a letter signed by more than 100 of their colleagues asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause his rapid pace of executions. Photo: Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops
Florida is set to surpass a grim milestone on Thursday, when the state will likely execute its ninth person so far this year.
Why it matters: It would mark the state's highest count since the Supreme Court reinstated the ultimate punishment nearly 50 years ago. Lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis have also made it easier to sentence people to death.
The big picture: The push comes despite no apparent change in public opinion, pleas from more than 100 faith leaders to pause the rapid pace, and groundbreaking new reporting that shows just how many men who ended up on death row were abused by the state as children.
- Missing from the conversation is DeSantis, who has the sole discretion to decide when and whom to execute.
Axios reached out to the governor's office for more than a month with a list of questions about DeSantis' approach to capital punishment.
- Emails, calls and messages, including to a cell phone linked to communications director Bryan Griffin, went unreturned.
What they're saying: "You have a singular elected official who has the power to decide who lives and who dies, and he is not explaining his reasoning in any way," Maria DeLiberato, executive director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, told Axios.
- "That sort of begs the question of, 'Why is this happening and who are we doing this for?'" said DeLiberato, whose organization advocates for life without parole as a cheaper, more humane alternative.
- "You would think that … in matters of life and death at least, the executive would feel the need to be transparent in their decision-making," said John Blume, director of the Cornell Death Penalty Project, which takes no position on capital punishment.
Between the lines: Both speculated that politics likely play a part, pointing to President Trump's staunch support of the punishment.
- Blume noted that Florida isn't the only state experiencing an uptick. Others are also driving a national increase.
The latest: Set to die on Thursday by lethal injection is Edward J. Zakrzewski, II, who in 1996 pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, Sylvia, and children Edward, 7, and Anna, 5, in Okaloosa County.
- DeSantis also signed a 10th death warrant for Kayle Bates, who in 1983 was convicted for the murder, kidnapping and attempted sexual battery of Janet Renee White, 24, in Bay County. The execution is scheduled for Aug. 19.
Zoom in: Among the eight people who preceded them was Michael Bell, who was one of at least 34 boys who faced relentless physical and sexual violence at the state-run Dozier School and were later sentenced to death, The Marshall Project reported this month.
- Childhood abuse interrupts brain development, making victims less able to regulate their emotions and impulses, the report says, citing research and interviews with neuroscientists.
- At Dozier, abuse was rampant. Guards repeatedly forced Bell to fight other boys. He witnessed numerous rapes and beatings, and an employee sexually assaulted him, Bell told the news outlet.
- "Dozier helped make these boys killers," neuropsychiatry specialist George Woods said in the article.
Last month, Florida sent compensation payments to hundreds of Dozier victims. Two weeks later, state workers strapped Bell to a gurney and watched him die.