Florida: Fast-Tracking Executions Proves Slower than Expected Under “Timely Justice Act”

Florida Death Chamber

It hasn’t been used in 30 years to commute a death sentence, but executive clemency will still keep more than 100 Death Row inmates from being quickly executed under a law signed in June by Gov. Rick Scott.

Scott on Friday received a list of 132 convicts certified by Florida Supreme Court Clerk Thomas Hall as being at least partially “warrant ready” under the requirements of the “Timely Justice Act,” which was passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature this spring. Some of the state’s most notorious killers are on the list, including Juan Chavez, convicted of killing 9-year-old Jimmy Ryce in Redland 18 years ago.

But only after clemency is complete does the 30-day trigger for Scott to sign a death warrant begin under the new law, and just a fraction of those on the list — between 10 and 20 — are in any stage of the clemency process. And nobody on the list has yet reached the threshold for an execution order because, according to Scott’s lawyers, executive clemency isn’t finalized until the governor actually signs a death warrant.

That means that the new law will not spark a flurry of executions, perhaps dashing some lawmakers’ expectations.

“Most of the cases received from the Supreme Court clerk, pursuant to state law, have not yet begun clemency review. Therefore, only a small fraction of these cases will be eligible for the issuance of a death warrant any time soon,” Scott’s general counsel Pete Antonacci said Thursday.

Because executive clemency is confidential, there is no way to determine who on the list will be among the first death warrants issued.

Under the new law, the Supreme Court clerk must certify to the governor a list of Death Row inmates whose initial state and federal appeals have been exhausted. According to Supreme Court Clerk Hall, 132 meet those requirements.

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Source: FlaglerLive.com