Just weeks after leg­is­la­tors in Wyoming and South Dakota passed leg­is­la­tion to ban the exe­cu­tion of juve­nile offend­ers, law­mak­ers in Florida are on a sim­i­lar course that may send a bill that elim­i­nates the death penal­ty for those under the age of 18 to Governor Jeb Bush for sig­na­ture into law. Members of the Florida Senate passed the juve­nile death penal­ty ban by a vote of 26 – 12, and the House is expect­ed to take up the mea­sure lat­er this week. Florida House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, who had been opposed to rais­ing the min­i­mum the age for cap­i­tal offend­ers, has indi­cat­ed that he will allow House mem­bers to ​“vote their con­science” when con­sid­er­ing the bill. The legislation’s House spon­sor, Representative Phillip Brutus of Miami, not­ed, ​“I think it will be a pret­ty strong vote. To invoke the harsh­est penal­ty of all – which is death – when some­body is 17 years old is wrong.” If the Florida leg­is­la­ture pass­es and Governor Bush signs the bill into law, the state will become the 20th in the nation to ban the prac­tice and the third state to enact this pol­i­cy in 2004. New Hampshire’s House and Senate over­whelm­ing­ly vot­ed for a sim­i­lar bill ear­li­er this month, but Governor Craig Benson has vowed to veto the leg­is­la­tion. The Supreme Court will con­sid­er the con­sti­tu­tion­al­i­ty of the juve­nile death penal­ty this fall when it hears argu­ments in Roper v. Simmons. (Various news sources includ­ing the Sun-Sentinel of Florida and The Union Leader of New Hampshire, April 27, 2004). See Juvenile Death Penalty.

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