On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a new set of anti-crime measures designed to keep offenders off the streets.
The three bills increase penalties for fentanyl traffickers, oppose efforts by liberal prosecutors to modify bail laws, and make certain crimes against minors capital offenses.
“Florida is a law-and-order state with a 50-year record low crime rate and double-digit year-over-year decreases in murder, burglary, and overall crime,” DeSantis said in a statement. “For three consecutive legislative sessions we have enacted tough-on-crime policies, and this year we are continuing to implement measures to protect our communities and keep Florida safe, with a particular emphasis on keeping criminals in jail and throwing the book at pedophiles.”
As part of House Bill 1627, which addresses “bail reforms” in a variety of ways, the Florida Supreme Court must create a uniform statewide bond schedule by the end of the year.
A defendant apprehended for a violent or heinous offense cannot be released prior to their initial court appearance, and judges are prohibited from setting a bail amount that is less than the state’s minimum bond. In addition, a number of new crimes are added to the state’s list of “dangerous crimes.”
It is a first-degree felony under House Bill 1359 to possess, distribute, or manufacture fentanyl and other controlled substances that resemble confectionery. The bill also enhances the criminal penalties for those who traffic “rainbow fentanyl” by imposing a life sentence, a minimum 25-year sentence, and a $1 million fine on traffickers.
The death penalty is applied to pedophiles who “commit sexual battery against children under the age of 12,” according to House Bill 1297, also signed into law by DeSantis, according to the governor’s office.
In order to “overrule judicial precedents which have unfairly shielded child rapists from the death penalty and denied victims and their loved ones the opportunity to pursue ultimate justice against these most heinous criminals,” the governor stated that he is ready to take the fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A law enacted by DeSantis last month reduces from 12 to 8 the number of jurors required to reach a unanimous verdict in order to execute a convicted offender.
In Florida, we believe it’s only appropriate that the worst of the worst crimes deserve the worst of the worst punishment. pic.twitter.com/pOg4UYe92m
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 1, 2023