FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 10, 2017
CONTACT: Mark Elliott, FADP Director, (727) 215-9646, mark@fadp.org
FLORIDA – The new poll released today shows by a two to one margin, Orange and Osceola County voters support life in prison with no parole over the death penalty and by the same margin, support data-driven policies to make justice more fair and effective. A large majority also supports a State Attorney considering the impact on victim’s families, cost, and public safety when deciding to seek a death sentence and consider cost when deciding to seek re-trials of those now on death row.
Responding to the poll, Mark Elliott, director of Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty stated:
“This new survey makes it clear that State Attorney Aramis Ayala is serving the will of the majority of people she was elected to represent. State Attorney Ayala was elected to serve the people of Orange and Osceola Counties, not serve Gov. Scott.”
“Although Gov. Scott dismissively refused to hear her explanation, it is evident that most people of Orange and Osceola Counties support the reasons for her decision to be both smart and tough on crime by ending the use of Florida’s flawed and expensive death penalty.”
“All Florida taxpayers benefit from her decision not to seek death sentences. The best estimate is that Florida’s attempt to enforce the Death penalty wastes an extra $50 million or more every year of limited criminal justice dollars.”
“Where is the outrage from state policy makers when Florida taxpayers could pay up to $100 million or more in additional costs to try to re-sentence to death more than a hundred men and women now on death row?”
“State Attorney Ayala should be applauded for her steadfast devotion to the safety and well-being of the people of her jurisdiction by refusing to use expensive, wasteful, and pointless death penalty show trials that do nothing to prevent violent crime, protect law enforcement, or help victim’s families in immediate and meaningful ways.”
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Sent by:
Mark Elliott
Executive Director
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty
www.fadp.org
FADP is a non-profit and non-partisan Florida organization of individuals and groups united to abolish the Death Penalty in Florida.