Public Defenders Recommend Moratorium on Death Penalty

The Florida Bar News

February 1, 2009

By Kim MacQueen
Associate Editor

Florida’s public defenders have offered a controversial new idea for saving money during tight fiscal times: a moratorium on the death penalty. “This Legislature would be remiss not to look at the most costly, least cost-efficient service we provide: the death penalty,” 10th Circuit Assistant Public Defender Howard L. (Rex) Dimmig — speaking on behalf of the Florida Public Defender Association — told members of the Senate Criminal Justice and Judiciary committees gathered for the January special session in Tallahassee.Senate Criminal Justice Committee members did not offer immediate comment or reaction following Dimmig’s proposal, but Sen. Ted Deutch, D-Delray Beach, asked 13th Circuit State Attorney Mark Ober, who was also at the meeting, if he would support it. Read More