Tag: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

Executions continue at pace in Florida


Governor De Santis breaking records in Florida

March 2026

On this day when it has been reported that the death toll in the US/Israel school bombing in Iran has risen to 148 with a further 95 injured, it may seem contrary to mention the death penalty in Florida. Governor De Santis is hell bent on his execution spree with 5 new death sentences so far this year following on from the record 19 executions in 2025. They are related in the sense that violence is seen as a solution to problems. The US is the only nation in the Americas to have the death penalty in some states. Bombing or putting to death: it seems to be part of some politician’s thinking that such violence is a cure or a solution. It appears to give them a sense of accomplishment. Yet in truth it solves nothing.

The death penalty in the state has many dubious characteristics. As Clive Safford-Smith has noted in his book – Life and Death in the Court Rooms of America for example – the justice system for those without financial means works imperfectly. Injustice in these circumstances is bad enough but when it leads to the death of an individual it is unconscionable. Police do not always disclose all the evidence which might exonerate the accused. Only eight out of 12 jurors are needed for a guilty verdict.

Latest execution this Tuesday (3rd March)

The latest scheduled execution is Billy Kearse (pictured). The murder of Sgt. Parrish devastated his family and the Fort Pierce community. Nothing about our opposition to this execution diminishes that loss. Still, Billy is a person with intellectual disability who was just 18 years and 84 days old at the time of the crime, which is exactly why three Florida Supreme Court Justices said his was “clearly not a death case.” Basic decency and the rule of law demand we take that seriously.

Ron De Santis is a keen proponent of the death penalty saying “I think we’re in a good spot now, and I want to make sure that people (Death Row inmates) that have exhausted all these appeals over many years, sometimes decades, like when all that’s done …, and there’s victims’ families that are wanting to see justice, that I’m doing my part to deliver that,”

House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell, acknowledged she might sound “cynical,” but she indicated the increase in De Santis signing death warrants could be tied to his political ambitions.

“What we’ve seen from this governor, and past behavior is oftentimes a predictor of where future behavior might go, this is a governor who’s been so focused on his own ambitions, his personal ambitions, he wants to impress Republican primary voters,” Driskell said Monday during a conference call with reporters. [Source: WUSF]

De Santis wants executions to be carried out quickly believing that they will act as a “strong deterrent”. There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrent and there is little difference in murder rates between states with the penalty and those without. Florida has the highest level of exonerations of all states in the Union.

Sources: Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, https://www.wusf.org, Hoodline, Jacksonville

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Steep rise in Florida executions


Darkness seems to reign in the Sunshine state

November 2025

UPDATE: 21 November. Randolph was executed yesterday making it the 17th in the state. Further background can be read in a Tallahassee Democrat post. There is also material on Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty FADP.

There has been a big increase in executions in Florida – 15 so far this year and another one due to take place today (20 November) of Richard Barry Randolph. This compares with 1 last year and a downward trend in the US as a whole. The reason for this surge is hard to determine but much of the US media and opinion seems to point to the Governor Ron DeSantis. It is alleged that this sudden surge is part of his campaign to run for president in 2028 at the end (?) of the Trump era.

There are many troubling aspects about the executions. Florida is almost unique in allowing the governor

to have the final decision. Other states now leave this to the judiciary. But there is also disquiet about the secrecy of the decision making process. ‘Florida’s gov­er­nor has no cri­te­ria, pro­ce­dure, or guide­lines in place for select­ing who lives and who dies…Granting the gov­er­nor unfet­tered dis­cre­tion has, in prac­tice, led to a com­plete­ly arbi­trary process for deter­min­ing who lives and who dies‘ [attorney for Thomas Gudinas]. De Santis has offered no explanation for this sudden increase in executions.

High level of mistakes

Anyone who has read Clive Stafford-Smith’s book Injustice will know the inefficient court process in the US particularly for poor people. The level of mistakes in the state is high. Since 1989 there have been no less than 93 individuals wrongfully convicted and exonerated. Needless to say, if someone has already been executed it’s a mistake that cannot be rectified.

The judicial process seems to offer little confidence with 6 or the seven justices on the Florida Supreme Court appointed by the governor. The jury system has been altered so that only 8 out of the 12 jurors is needed for a guilty verdict. The results are clear to see with 35% of those on death row are Black whereas they represent only 17% of the population.

There is no evidence that the death penalty is a deterrence. As we have noted, mistakes cannot be afterwards rectified. It would appear that this sudden rise is due to the Governor’s desire to raise his credibility with a view to the presidential election in 2028. As the Palm Beach Post notes, ‘the system is riddled with issues ..’ (18 November).

Sources: Palm Beach Post, WUSF, The Conversation, Guardian, FADP

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