Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
DeSantis’ opinion on the death penalty troubling
In a wanton pursuit of political aspirations, Gov. Ron DeSantis is seeking to unleash the shadow of the Angel of Death upon Florida, threatening to irrevocably darken the Sunshine State with a cascade of state-sponsored murder, even as the world observes International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
DeSantis recently declared his hope of changing state law so that a unanimous jury no longer is required to secure a death sentence. “Fine, have a supermajority,” DeSantis told the Florida Sheriffs Association. “But you can’t just say one person votes no … maybe eight out of 12 or something.”
The next day, DeSantis signed the death warrant of Donald Dillbeck, a man sentenced to state murder by the very same non-unanimous vote of exactly eight out of 12 jurors, at a time before such a vote was rendered unconstitutional in the state. (Currently, Alabama is the only state that allows a non-unanimous vote for state-sponsored murder to stand.) The only other death warrant that DeSantis has signed as governor was in September 2019 for the execution of James Dailey, a U.S. Air Force veteran convicted solely on the word of jailhouse informants. Mercifully, the execution was delayed by the courts and never rescheduled.
DeSantis has crossed yet another Rubicon in violating the sanctity of human life. He has effectively opened Pandora’s box for the politically motivated slaughter of human beings in his state, both the innocent like James Dailey and the guilty like Donald Dillbeck. This should serve as a warning that a President DeSantis would doubtless continue the federal execution spree of 2020-2021, which saw the Trump administration order the state murder of 12 men and 1 woman in the names of all Americans.
We, the thousands of members of “L’chaim! Jews Against the Death Penalty,” are keenly aware of the existential threat posed by any politician who is willing to dole out death for personal gain. On International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Jan. 27, it is at the very forefront of the minds of myself and other members of our group who are second-, thirdand fourth-generation Holocaust survivors.
Seventy percent of the nations of the world have recognized that the power to kill those we incarcerate is not one that any government official or body should hold. They have learned well the lesson conveyed by Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel in his famous words on capital punishment: “With every cell of my being and with every fiber of my memory I oppose the death penalty in all forms. I do not believe any civilized society should be at the service of death. I don’t think it’s human to become an agent of the angel of death.” This is our anthem in L’chaim, as is Weisel’s famous comment about capital punishment that “Death is not the answer.”
It is profoundly fitting that Wiesel connected the idea of Malakh HaMavet — The Angel of Death — with the death penalty. In this week’s portion of the
Torah that Jews across the world study, we read in the book of Exodus about how our ancestors in Egypt did all they could so that this same “Destroyer” — the Angel of Death — would pass over their homes on their quest for spiritual freedom. We welcome all allies who wish to join us in our quest to put an end to the American cycle of violence and death by joining “L’chaim!” and by perusing the various Jewish Actions and Resources on the Death Penalty that we have collected from Jewish leaders across the world.
Together, we shall one day succeed in making this manmade Angel of Death pass over our nation, and eventually our world.