June 14 will mark the one year anniversary of Gov. Rick Scott’s signing of the Timely Justice Act. The measure aims to increase the pace of Florida’s death penalty process by requiring the Governor to sign a death warrant within 30 days of an inmate’s appeals process becoming final. The law also calls for executions to occur within 180 days of the death warrant being issued. Supporters say it’s unreasonable for inmates to sit on death row for decades.
Meanwhile opponents point out that Florida has the highest error rate in the country when it comes to death penalty cases and argue the law will lead to innocent people being executed. Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that Florida isn’t doing enough to determine whether or not an inmate is mentally disabled and therefore can’t be executed. We’ll take a closer look at the state’s death penalty process.
Guests:
Marty McClain, Attorney with Mcclain & Mcdermott, P.A. McClain represented exonerated Florida Death Row Inmates Frank Lee Smith and Juan Melendez
