Russia And Florida Sitting In A Tree…

That’s Not Fair— DeSantis Henchmen Haven’t Thrown A Single Opponent Out Of A Window Yet

Disclaimer: I’m a pro-death penalty guy and always have been. The first scholarship I ever won was in a UN-sponsored high school debate when I took the pro-death penalty position. I would also note though that I don’t believe that the judicial system is fair enough to be entrusted with carrying out any death sentences other than in cases involving fascists.

According to Amnesty International, 3 countries carry out the most frequent state-sponsored executions: China, Iran, Saudi Arabia. Surprised Russia’s not on the list? Russia has had a moratorium on the use of the death penalty since 1996, which means that no official executions have been carried out in the country since then. The moratorium was introduced as part of Russia's efforts to join the Council of Europe, which requires all member states to abolish the death penalty. Russia has signed but not ratified the Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which requires the complete abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, including during wartime. However, despite the moratorium, the death penalty remains part of the Russian legal system, and the constitution allows for its use in exceptional cases, such as for crimes committed during wartime or in cases of terrorism.

On the other hand, there have been quite a few cases of high-profile individuals who have fallen out of favor with the Putin regime who have fallen out of windows. Depending on your point of view, it is either important or hilarious to note that extrajudicial executions are illegal in Russia, and would be considered serious human rights violations. The Russian government has denied any involvement in such incidents and has insisted that they are the result of accidents or suicide. About 4 months ago, Elaine Godfrey reported on Sudden Russian Death Syndrome, noting that “it’s not a great time to be an oligarch who’s unenthusiastic about Putin’s war in Ukraine.” A flabbergastingly large number of businessmen, bureaucrats, oligarchs and journalists have succumbed to a spate of unnatural “defenestrations, suspected poisonings, suspicious heart attacks, and supposed suicides. One, Latvia-born Putin critic Dan Rapoport apparently fell from the window of his Washington, D.C., apartment, a mile from the White House. Others have been suicided in India, France, the U.K. and every part of Russia. These don’t count as judicial executions of course.

The use of the death penalty has been declining in the United States in recent years, with fewer states carrying out executions and fewer death sentences being handed down overall. Nevertheless, in the U.S., the states most in synch with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia (and Russia, if you want to count the wet work) are, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (for the 2010s) 4 MAGA-controlled states:

1. Texas: 76 executions

2. Oklahoma: 21 executions

3. Florida: 17 executions

4. Missouri: 17 executions
   

On Friday, Andrew Jeong reported that DeSantis’ pet legislature is lowering the death penalty threshold significantly. A “bill, which passed the state House on Thursday in an 80-30 vote and passed the Senate last month, allows capital punishment if eight of 12 jurors approve, instead of requiring a unanimous jury… The bill would reverse a 2017 Florida law that required a jury unanimity for death penalties. Of the 27 states that allow the death penalty, most require a unanimous jury decision. Alabama allows a 10-2 vote, and Missouri and Indiana allow a judge to decide if the jury is divided. DeSantis has repeatedly expressed support for making capital punishment easier to impose and is expected to support the bill.”

There have been several studies that have attempted to estimate the number of innocent people who have been sentenced to death, something that can’t really be done with with certainty. One frequently cited study, is “Rate of false conviction of criminal defendants who are sentenced to death,” was conducted by Samuel Gross, Barbara O'Brien, Chen Hu and Edward Kennedy, researchers from the University of Michigan and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2014. The study analyzed data from 1973 to 2004 and estimated that 4.1% of defendants sentenced to death in the United States were later found to be innocent. Another study, “Innocence and the Death Penalty: Assessing the Danger of Mistaken Executions” conducted by Michael Radelet, Traci Lacock and Glenn Pierce, researchers from the University of Colorado and published in the Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology in 2014, estimated that the rate of wrongful convictions in capital cases was 4.1% for the years 1973 to 2004, and 3.3% for the years 1973 to 2013.

There are a lot of reasons why the Florida GOP is making a grievous error in its decision to allow a less than unanimous jury votes to trigger an execution, first and foremost being the risk of error. 4% may not be a great many-- and other estimates have been much higher-- but [almost] no one wants to see an innocent person executed and allowing a less than unanimous decision to trigger an execution increases the risk of executing an innocent person, as it reduces the level of certainty required for the death penalty. The other big problem here is the fact that this change will disproportionately affect poor people who can’t afford top-level defense and minority defendants, who are more likely to face biased juries that may not be able to reach a unanimous decision. And even in Florida, the change will erode public trust in the fairness and reliability of the criminal justice system, particularly when cases of wrongful convictions and executions are publicized, as is inevitable.

UPDATE: Florida Trump-Hating Billionaire Not So Thrilled About DeSantis Either

Turns out not even all far right loons appreciate DeSantis’ extremism in action. Top GOP fat-cat, Hungarian born billionaire Thomas Peterffy, is taking his money bags and going home. He’s halting plans to help finance DeSantis’ bid to turn the U.S. into the same kind of bristling fascist state he’s turning Florida into... although Peterffy refers to it as DeSantis’ “extreme positions on social issues.” He told the Financial Times that he put himself on hold. “Because of his stance on abortion and book banning . . . myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry.” But not THAT dry. The Mar-a-Lago neighbor— who have McConnell’s PAC $7 million— has already given $6.8 million so far this cycle to various and sundry other right-wing SuperPACs.