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After more than 19 months without an execution in the state, Mark James Asay is scheduled to be put to death at 6 pm Thursday.

It will be the first execution since the US Supreme Court ruled Florida’s death penalty process unconstitutional and anti-death penalty activists say the process remains unfair.

Mark Asay was convicted and sentenced to death in 1987 for the murders of two people in Jacksonville.

The verdict was handed out after jury voted 9-3 in favor of death.

Years after Asay’s conviction Florida’s death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court for allowing judges the final say in whether a person would receive capital punishment.

Lawmakers then approved a 10-2 jury requirement ,which was then overturned by the Florida Supreme Court.

The Court ruled a unanimous jury would be required.

Asay’s execution will serve as a test to whether Florida’s new death penalty laws satisfy the US Supreme Court’s ruling.

The Florida Supreme Court says Asay can die because his 9-3 verdict was decided before 2002.

Anti-death advocates say the partial retroactivity of the ruling is cause for concern.

“That law has only been held to be partially retroactive, which just reminds us how arbitrary and inconsistent the application of the death penalty is,” said Ingrid Delgado with the Catholic Commission.

Multiple appeals by Asay’s lawyers have failed, but Mark Schlakman, an attorney well versed in issues surrounding Florida’s death penalty says the US Supreme Court will review the case before the execution.

“The extent to which the US Supreme Court decides to weigh in remains to be seen, but I would not say that it’s highly likely that it will, but it’s possible,” said Attorney Mark Schlackman.

The American and Florida BAR Associations has been asking for a complete review of Florida’s death penalty by all three governmental branches since 2006, citing concerns over fairness, impartiality and accuracy.

No such review has yet been conducted.

Asay’s execution will be the 24th under Governor Rick Scott’s watch. The Governor has signed off on more executions than any other Governor since the death penalty was brought back in 1979.

08/22/2017

If a person is targeted because of of their sexual orientation, race or religion in Florida they can be charged with a hate crime, which carries increased penalties.

The deaths of two police officers over the weekend and the shooting of two others, has lawmakers looking to add law enforcement and emergency service personnel to those protected groups.

Hate crime laws are designed  protect vulnerable minority groups.

Proposed legislation would extend the protection to police and emergency workers.

When a person is charged with a hate crime they face increased penalties.

What would normally be a first degree misdemeanor would instead become a third degree felony.

The Florida Police Benevolence Association says recent animosity towards police has created a need for additional protections.

“There seems to be a tension across the United States. So again, if we can have somebody think twice about doing something whether it’s assaulting an officer or stealing something or whatever, we think it’s a good idea,” said Ken Kopczynski with FPBA.

The Florida Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers says enhanced penalties already exist for those who commit crimes against on duty police officers.

“For your more common crimes like batteries and assaults there is a reclassification statute that basically moves the seriousness of the offense up one level,” said Legislative Chair of FACD, Luke Newman.

If passed the legislation would expand protections to include off duty officers as well, or anyone the perpetrator perceives to be law enforcement

By expanding hate crime protection to law enforcement and emergency service personnel criminal defense lawyers say it could open the doors for other occupations to also ask for the same protections.

“Are construction workers next? You know depending on your point of view, you start adding occupations. I think there could be a criticism made that there’s a slippery slope involved,” said Newman.

The Florida Sheriffs Association supported similar legislation last year, but says it has not yet taken a position on the bill filed Monday.

The bill was filed four days after four Florida police offers were shot in the line of duty.

When similar legislation was proposed in 2017 no committee heard it

Between 2000 and 2015 16,417 children under the age of 18 were married in the state of Florida.

It’s a practice allowed under Florida law, but a group of activists and Florida Lawmakers are looking to change that.

Florida law says 16 year olds can be married with parental consent and exceptions can be made for children of any age if pregnancy is involved.

46 years ago one such exception was made for then eleven year old Sherry Johnson.

She had been impregnated by a man who had raped her.

“I was actually raped at eight years of age, got pregnant at nine, gave birth to may daughter at ten years,” said Johnson.

Her strict religious parents forced her to become his bride.

With a judges signature the two were husband and wife.

Johnson says she was completely unprepared.

“You don’t know how to be a wife. You have no idea what you’re really getting into,” Johnson said. “All you can try to do is what I did and that’s mimic those I had seen and watched.”

Now 57 Johnson has written a book about her experiences.

She’s on a mission to spread awareness and change a loophole she says is still victimizing children.

About 40 minors aged 15 and under are married each year in the State of Florida according to the latest statistics gathered by the organization, “Unchained at Last”.

In 2014 Legislation passed the House that would have banned marriage under the age of 16, but it didn’t have any traction in the Senate.

This year however, a bill has been filed that would ban marriage for anyone under the age of 18.

“People are learning more [about] what actually happens here in the state of Florida. They’re hearing about it. Where before it was not something that was talked about. It was all so to speak pushed under the rug,” said Johnson.

If approved the the legislation would make Florida’s marriage law the strictest in the nation.

Sherry Johnson runs the TaMar Foundation, which is dedicated to fighting sex abuse.

You can learn more about it by going to following this link.

It’s been 47 years since a solar eclipse was visible from Florida State University and students at the school didn’t hesitate to make the best of their experience when offered free solar eclipse glasses.

The University gave out 4,000 free eclipse viewing glasses to students over the past few weeks.

This morning they gave out the last 500.

Officials at the school say students came out in mass to grab their pair.

“We gave out between four hundred fifty or five hundred glasses in thirty minutes this morning, and hopefully we’ll get all those coming back this afternoon, because we’re trying to do a photo for the archives of everybody that is looking at the sun and watching the eclipse going on,” said Todd Shaver, Program Director for Oglesby Union at FSU.

During the eclipse students gathered at the Oglesby Union Green to pose in the photo for the schools archives.

Florida pediatricians are concerned of a possible concerted effort by GOP political donors to keep low income special needs children off of a Medicaid Program known as Children’s Medical Services.

In 2015, more than 13,000 children were removed from the program as a result of a survey that was introduced to deem if a child qualified for the program or not.

The survey was later found to be misleading and is no longer used.

After extraneous efforts the Florida Department of Health sent 6,081 parents whose children were removed from CMS and put on 11 other Medicaid plans owned by private companies a letter telling them they could reapply.

An extensive report by CNN found the companies that owned the private plans the children were switched to, made significant donations to the Florida Republican Party.

Pediatricians like Dr. Louis St. Petery say the Department of Health has still been reluctant to share how many of those children actually made it back on to CMS plans.

Which, he says suggests there still might be an effort to keep some of the kids off CMS.

“They did send out a letter to about six thousand kids, whom in their opinion, were the only ones who didn’t make it back to CMS. We’ve asked, ‘So, you’ve sent out the letter, how many of them got back on CMS?’ No answer. There still seems to be a reluctance to actually openly discuss the issues,” said Dr. Petery.

The 11 companies cited in the CNN article contributed $8.6 million to Florida Republican Party committees from 2010 to 2014

Governor Rick Scott has once again reassigned a case from Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala citing her opposition to the death penalty as the reason.

The latest case is that of Everett Glenn Miller.

Miller is accused of murdering two Kissimmee police officers during a routine traffic stop Friday night. The case falls under the jurisdiction of State Attorney Aramis Ayala who announced in March she would not seek the death penalty in any case. Ayala believes Florida’s death penalty laws are unconstitutional.

Governor Scott has since removed 27 cases from Ayala’s jurisdiction and handed them over to State Attorney Brad King.

Ayala has sued Governor Scott in the Florida Supreme Court claiming he over stepped his authority by interfering with the will of a publicly elected official.

“By taking 24 cases away from State Attorney Aramis Ayala Governor Scott violated the constitution and the law,” Ayala’s lawyer Roy Austin Jr. said in court earlier this month.

The Governor’s attorneys argue the Governor has the authority to transfer cases in the interest of justice.

“If petitioner’s policy is allowed to stand we’re going to have a situation where you have law free zones with respect to some statues in some parts of the state,” said Soliciter General Amit Agarwal.

In a statement, Governor Scott justified his decision in the most recent transfer by saying, “In Florida we have zero tolerance for violence and those who attack law enforcement.”

The Florida Police Chiefs Association agrees.

The organization says death needs to be on the table when a cop is killed.

“We appreciate the support that they give to law enforcement. We also believe that every option should be on the table when trying to work through the justice system with a cop killer,” said Amy Mercer, the Executive Director of the Association.

There is no time table for the Supreme Court to Release it’s decision.

The Court its normal opinion releases on August 31st.

We reached out to Aramis Ayala’s office for comment on this story, did not receive a response in time.

Since 2008, annual increases on property taxes for businesses and rental properties have been capped at 10%.

Previously taxes were left to the will of the market meaning property owners were vulnerable to extreme tax spikes.

“Well I think it’s just the fear that it could happen I think that’s more than anything. Rents do go up and property taxes do go up,” said James Miller, Communications Director with the Florida Retail Federation.

The cap goes away in 2019.

But support is growing for a proposed constitutional amendment that would make the 10% cap permanent.

The Florida Retail Federation says permanent caps will benefit Florida’s businesses and renters.

“It enables the state to remain strong and vibrant and get people their business here and move their business here and that’s really ultimately what you want,” said Miller.

Some organizations like the AFLCIO say the state can’t afford the loss of revenue a permanent cap would create.

Rich Templin, Legislative Director for the organization says Florida is the 49th in support for public services.

With most of the cost picked up by lower income groups.

“We have relied over the last decade on bumper sticker type polices which just isn’t sound financial policy.,” said Templin.

Tempin says although the tax cut may sound good on paper, Floridian’s will pay the price if services are cut.

“Florida does not generate the revenue that it could easily generate because our revenue policy is a hodgepodge of exemptions, loopholes, caps and what that’s done is it’s essentially starving the programming that Floridians really need,” said Templin.

Supporters of the amendment say the state has nothing to lose, as the caps have already been in place for 8 years.

The cap on residential homeowners is already set 3%.