The Senate voted 34-0 to bar the executions of teens who murder before their 18th birthday.

Under current Florida law, killers can be executed only if they've reached age 17 at the time of the crime.

That's from a decision by the state Supreme Court, which ruled it would violate the Florida Constitution's protection against "cruel or unusual" punishment to allow the execution of killers any younger than that. The Florida age limit is higher than the federal standard.

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Eighth Amendment's ban on "cruel and unusual punishment" protects killers from execution only if they're 15 or younger when they kill.

The bill (CS-SB 1212) went to the House, where companion bill (HB 1615) is pending before the Criminal Justice Appropriations Committee.

The legislation was sponsored to reassure critics of a proposed constitutional amendment on the death penalty that voters will see in November. The proposed amendment would change the ban on "cruel or unusual" punishment in the Florida Constitution to "cruel and unusual" punishment.

That's how the U.S. Constitution words its protection against extreme punishment.

Some opponents of the proposed amendment have warned that its adoption would force Florida to drop its standard on teen executions to match the federal standard.

The legislation would prevent that and, in light of speculation that the Supreme Court might raise the age limit in Florida, revise the current state standard up a year, from 17 to 18.

(source: Associated Press) March 2002

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