A group of Republican lawmakers in Florida is hoping to pass legislation that would expand the state's death penalty punishments to allow the introduction of firing squads and lethal gas.
The bill, introduced by state Sen. Jonathan Martin, R-Fort Myers, would allow individuals on death row to be executed by "a method not deemed unconstitutional nor cruel and unusual" if the ongoing shortage of pentobarbital — the drug used for lethal injections — persists for an extended period.
As reported by the Miami Herald, Martin's bill moved through its first committee on March 25 and, less than 24 hours later, Rep. Berny Jacques, R-Lago, introduced a companion bill in the Florida House of Representatives that would seek to ensure "Florida can uphold constitutional death sentences without delay by giving the Department of Corrections the flexibility to use any lawful method if current options become unavailable."
Senate Bill 1604, introduced by Martin, aims to protect Florida's status as a death penalty state if certain execution methods such as electrocution or legal injection are made unconstitutional by the Supreme Court or in the event lethal injection drugs are unable to be obtained by the Florida Department of Corrections.
Lethal injection or electrocution methods are allowed in Florida to carry out the death penalty at the moment, with lethal injection being the default method.
The proposed legislation comes as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis resumed executions in 2024 after three years without imposing the capital punishment. In 2023, Florida carried out a total of six executions.
As the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC) points out, Florida governors are given complete discretion when it comes to identifying prisoners for whom execution dates will be set. In addition, Florida set the lowest death penalty threshold in the U.S. in 2023 by reducing the number of jurors needed to agree to sentence someone to death to eight out of 12 votes.
"We just have to do the right thing and make sure that the law is fulfilled, that our communities are protected and that the punishments are provided in a humane manner but also that they are followed through," Martin said according to the Miami Herald.
Despite introducing the idea of firing squads and the use of lethal gas to carry out the capital punishment, Martin's bill does not specify which alternative execution methods could be used. But according to the DPIC, eight states across the U.S. —Alabama, Arizona, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma and Wyoming— specifically authorize the use of lethal gas to carry out executions.
Only Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, Idaho and South Carolina use firing squads as an alternative to lethal injection.
The state's next death row inmate's execution is set for April. Michael Tanzi, convicted of kidnapping a woman in Miami and later strangling her to death, is set to be executed April 8 at Florida State Prison.
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