Wed., 2-25-98--

FLORIDA:

A year after a foot-long flame erupted during Florida's last

electrocution, state lawmakers are eager to change lots of things

about capital punishment.

Except the electric chair.

Legislation to keep the 75-year-old chair in use is likely to pass in

the first few weeks of the two-month session that starts March 3.

Florida's death row has grown to 373 inmates in the last 25 years. But

only 39 killers have been executed since the U.S. Supreme Court approved

the state's death penalty statute in 1976.

For the last 2 years, legislators have passed laws hoping to speed up

the pace of executions. They'll try again in 1998.

"There is frustration with this process, and I'm not sure how the

frustration is going to play itself out," said Larry Spalding, who once

ran the legal office for death row inmates and now represents the

American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

Senate Majority Leader Locke Burt said lawmakers are trying to "make sure

that the will of the judge and the jury and the people of Florida is

carried out."

Legislators are looking at all angles. Who carries out executions? Who

hears appeals? Who files appeals? How many appeals are allowed?

Lawmakers also want to open up the debate to voters with constitutional

amendments designed to reform the system and protect capital punishment.

"I think any statutory change is ultimately going to fail without a

change in the constitution,' said Burt, who has been a key leader in

death-penalty legislation.

But the 1st order of business will be to keep the electric chair in

use. With 4 electrocutions scheduled in an eight-day period starting

March 23, lawmakers are working under a deadline and plan to pass the

legislation quickly.

The prime sponsors of the bills (CS-SB 360 and CS-HB 3033) are Burt;

Sen. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton; and Rep. Tracy Stafford, D-Wilton Manors.

Besides preserving electrocution as the method of execution in Florida,

the bill designate lethal injection as the backup procedure should a

court

ever rule death in the electric chair unconstitutional.

The state Supreme Court ruled 4-3 last fall that the chair could be used,

but 5 of the justices also urged lawmakers to pass an alternative method

of execution.

Justices Major Harding and Ben Overton warned that if another court ever

rule against the chair, the death sentences of condemned killers could be

at risk. A law allowing an alternative method of execution could prevent

that kind of a "constitutional train wreck" they advised.

Avoiding that constitutional train wreck is one of lawmakers'

motivations. They believe the best way to do it is by changing state law

to provide for an alternative method of execution -- lethal injection --

if electrocution is ever barred.

But some lawmakers also want to change the Constitution.

"You can't really address criminal appeals the way you want to until you

change the (state) Constitution," Burt said.

1 proposed constitutional amendment would declare the death penalty to be

an authorized punishment for capital crimes and prevent death sentences

from being reduced to life if a method of execution is ever overturned.

It would also require the state's courts to follow the lead of the U.S.

Supreme Court in judging whether a punishment is cruel or unusual.

That proposal (HJR 3505) is sponsored by Rep. Victor Crist, R-Temple

Terrace, in the House. The Senate companion (SB 964) is sponsored by

Sen. Tom Lee, R-Brandon.

Burt and Sen. Fred Dudley, R-Cape Coral, also will sponsor a

constitutional amendment to give lawmakers the power to write rules

dictating how criminal matters are handled by state courts.

Another proposal that would require approval from voters is creating a

separate Court of Criminal Appeals to handle death penalty appeals rather

than the state's top court, which was criticized by several lawmakers

unhappy with the court's advice. That bill is sponsored by Sen. Al

Gutman, R-Miami, and Crist.

The state Supreme Court is not the only institution whose role is being

studied. Dudley has sponsored legislation (SB 572) to require the state

Department of Corrections to hire someone to carry out executions.

A bill that Burt is sponsoring calls for hiring private attorneys to take

over the backlog of death row appeals. Burt also wants to reform the

way attorneys for death row inmates gain access to public records.

Another measure (SB 356 and HB 3175) would limit death row inmates -- and

all criminals -- to a single appeal in the state court system and force

all other appeals into the federal court system.

The idea has been promoted by Sen. Charles Williams, D-Live Oak, for the

last few years and is now also backed by Crist, chairman of the House

Justice Council. But some lawmakers have expressed concern about whether

the proposal would work.

"I would think that would push all the delays that are now in the state

court into federal court, and we don't have any control over federal

court,"

Burt said. "So my initial reaction would be that it would be a serious

mistake."

(source: Miami Herald)