Last Friday, Governor DeSantis signed yet another death warrant — this time for Mark Allen Geralds, sentenced to death for the 1989 murder of Tressa Pettibone. The signing of Mr. Geralds’ warrant marks the third consecutive case with serious concerns about access to state postconviction counsel and brings the total to three people now on Florida’s death watch: Mark Geralds, U.S. Marine Corps veteran Bryan Frederick Jennings and U.S. Army veteran Richard Randolph (Malik Abdul-Sajjad). If all three executions move forward, Florida will have carried out 18 executions this year — more than in any single year in history. This unprecedented pace shows how executions in Florida have become a political weapon, not a pursuit of justice.
This Thursday, the State of Florida plans to execute U.S. Marine Corps veteran Bryan Frederick Jennings, who has spent nearly fifty years on death row. His case shows the extent of Florida’s constitutional and moral collapse. Earlier today FADP issued a press release sharing that Mr. Jennings’ attorneys filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.
The petition for writ of certiorari filed on behalf of Mr. Jennings asks the Court to review Florida’s arbitrary and politicized warrant process and the state’s failure to provide continuous legal representation to people sentenced to death.
Mr. Jennings was left without a state-appointed lawyer for more than three years, in direct violation of Florida law. He has not received a clemency hearing in more than 35 years. Moreover, his death warrant was signed less than 24 hours after Governor DeSantis used a separate national controversy to promote “tough-on-crime” rhetoric online.
“Florida’s death penalty system has become unrecognizable from the one the law promises,” said Maria DeLiberato, Legal and Policy Director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty. “Bryan Jennings was left without a state court lawyer for years, denied a clemency review in this century, and then selected for execution because of favorable political timing.”
On Thursday morning, we will deliver thousands of petition signatures to the Governor and the Clemency Board calling on them to halt this execution. You can still add your name before we deliver them. We will gather at 5 p.m. this Thursday across from Florida State Prison for our vigil for Bryan Jennings. Please join us in person, online, or at one of the statewide vigils near you.
One week from Thursday, on November 20, U.S. Army veteran Richard Randolph (Malik Abdul-Sajjad) is scheduled for execution. Malik’s case reveals the same systemic failures — an outdated clemency review, a non-unanimous jury recommendation, and evidence that his life story was built on a lie.
Florida’s leaders are choosing death again and again, but we still have a choice. We can choose mercy. We can choose courage. We can choose to show up — this week, and every week until Florida ends this brutal practice for good. Your voice, your presence, and your refusal to look away matter now more than ever.
Onward,
The FADP Team
P.S. Just this morning, the Death Penalty Information Center released a groundbreaking report — Forgotten Service, Lasting Wounds: Military Veterans and the Death Penalty — confirming that Florida has executed more veterans than any state except Texas and leads the nation in veterans now facing execution. That data is already being tracked here in Florida. See Tracking Florida’s Death Penalty for a full breakdown of how our state became responsible for five of this year’s seven veteran executions — with two more scheduled this month.