A June 3 edi­to­r­i­al in the Sun Sentinel called on Florida Governor Rick Scott (pic­tured) to veto the Timely Justice Act, a bill passed by the leg­is­la­ture ear­li­er this year that would accel­er­ate exe­cu­tions. The bill requires the gov­er­nor to sign a death war­rant with­in 30 days of a Supreme Court review, with an exe­cu­tion to fol­low with­in 180 days. According to the edi­to­r­i­al, flaws in the sys­tem, evi­denced by death row exon­er­a­tions, should be suf­fi­cient rea­son to reject a bill that would speed up the death penal­ty process in the state. The law would give wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed inmates approx­i­mate­ly eight months to prove their inno­cence before fac­ing exe­cu­tion. The edi­to­r­i­al high­light­ed the case of for­mer Florida death row inmate Seth Penalver, who spent a dozen years on death row before this con­vic­tion was over­turned last year. Another inmate, Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin, recent­ly pre­sent­ed DNA evi­dence that could set him free, sev­en years after his con­vic­tion. The edi­tors con­clud­ed, ​“If the Timely Justice Act were already law, he would not be alive to fight for his own jus­tice.” Twenty four wrong­ful­ly con­vict­ed inmates have been released from death row in Florida since the mid-1970s, more than any oth­er state in the coun­try. Read full editorial below.

Gov. Scott should veto bill that speed up death penalty punishments

Florida is the state most like­ly to send the wrong per­son to death row. Twenty-four times since the mid-1970s, we have sen­tenced an inno­cent per­son to death. Twenty-four times. No oth­er state has racked up more exonerations.

So tell us again why we need a law that speeds up executions?

Known flaws in the sys­tem are the biggest rea­son why Gov. Rick Scott should veto the Timely Justice Act, a bill recent­ly passed by the Florida Legislature that would super-charge the death penalty process.

The leg­is­la­tion would require the gov­er­nor to sign a death war­rant with­in 30 days of a Supreme Court review, with exe­cu­tion to fol­low with­in 180 days.

The law would give wrong­ly con­demned inmates about eight months to prove their inno­cence before our gov­ern­ment puts them to death.

And remem­ber, there are no take-backs in the lethal-injec­tions busi­ness. That fact alone should guide the governor’s decision.

The New York Times recent­ly report­ed on anoth­er Florida death-row inmate, Clemente Javier Aguirre-Jarquin, who has pre­sent­ed DNA evi­dence that could set him free. It took sev­en years for the evi­dence to sur­face. If the Timely Justice Act were already law, he would not be alive to fight for his own jus­tice. As it stands, he appears poised to become the state’s 25th death-row inmate to be exonerated.

Also remem­ber Broward res­i­dent Seth Penalver, who was wrong­ly con­vict­ed of first-degree mur­der and spent a dozen years on death row before his con­vic­tion was over­turned last year. His life is Exhibit A for the mis­takes made in Florida’s death penalty system.

Florida has always had a love affair with the death penal­ty. It was the first state to rein­tro­duce cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment after the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972 cleared the way. We also won the race to per­form the first invol­un­tary exe­cu­tion sev­en years later.

Since 1973, Florida has car­ried out cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment 76 times. The last occurred last week, with two more sched­uled in the next month. For each man, their stays on death row exceed­ed 20 years.

Proponents of speed­i­er exe­cu­tions say decades-long waits are an affront to jus­tice, as well as to vic­tims’ fam­i­lies. In over­whelm­ing­ly pass­ing their bills, the Senate and House of Representatives were bent on slash­ing the 13-year aver­age length of stay, though the nation­al aver­age is high­er, at 14 years.

But skimp­ing on due process — and wrong­ly killing inno­cent peo­ple — is too high a price to pay for speedy justice.

Many Florida death row res­i­dents end up there due to a lack of wealth, no access to qual­i­fied defense attor­neys, racial bias and poor­ly instruct­ed juries, accord­ing to a study car­ried out sev­en years ago by the American Bar Association. The inequal­i­ties still exist.

We under­stand the desire of law­mak­ers to appear tough on crime. It’s why we have laws like Stand Your Ground and a jus­tice sys­tem that sends more juve­niles to prison than any other state.

But clean­ing out death row by short­en­ing the time for appeals defines ​“rush to judgment.”

“Only God can judge,” said Matt Gaetz, R‑Fort Walton Beach, who spon­sored the House bill. ​“But we sure can set up the meeting.”

“This is not about guilt or inno­cence, it’s about time­ly jus­tice,” said Republican Sen. Rob Bradley, R‑Orange Park.

Timely jus­tice for whom?

The gov­er­nor should veto the bill or leave it unsigned to die a timely death.

(Editorial Board, ​“Gov. Scott should veto bill that speed up death penal­ty pun­ish­ments,” The Sun Sentinel, June 3, 2013). The Miami Herald has also called on Gov. Scott to veto the bill. See Innocence. Read more Editorials on the death penalty.

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