Florida religious leaders ask Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause executions

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee in 2024. Religious leaders across Florida have penned a letter asking DeSantis to pause executions. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI UPI

July 2 (UPI) -- Religious leaders across Florida have penned a letter asking Gov. Ron DeSantis to pause executions after more prisoners were put to death in a single year since the death penalty was reinstated half a century ago.

The letter will be sent to DeSantis on July 8, when hundreds of faith leaders are expected to gather at First Presbyterian Church in Tallahassee before marching to the State Capitol to deliver the letter. The demonstration will be livestreamed beginning at 11 a.m. local time.

The demonstration comes after Florida scheduled its eighth and ninth executions for the year. Last month, Florida executed its seventh prisoner of the year, Thomas Gudinas, who was convicted for the 1994 rape and murder of a woman outside an Orlando bar.

"We ... are deeply troubled by the expansion of Florida's death penalty and the pace of executions under your administration. We stand together to call on you to pause the signing of death warrants and make space for dialogue around whether the people of the State of Florida are being served by the current pace of executions," the letter reads.

"Though we come from different backgrounds and spiritual traditions, our shared belief in the sacred value of every human life unites us. Our faiths teach us that no person is beyond redemption and that true justice must reflect both accountability and compassion."

The religious leaders said that Florida's death penalty system "is plagued by racial disparities" and that its processes can retraumatize families. They also said that Florida has a "troubling history of wrongful convictions."

"Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations -- proof that the risk of executing an innocent person is not hypothetical but real," the letter reads. "Executions also inflict moral injury on correctional staff and divert resources away from the kinds of investments that truly improve public safety."

The letter was signed by 82 faith leaders from various Christian faiths, including more than 40 Catholic leaders, some 25 mainline Protestant leaders, about five from evangelical or non-denominational churches, two from Quaker congregations, a Mennonite leader and several interfaith leaders. They represented churches throughout all of Florida's major cities.

"Florida cannot claim to be a state that values life while it continues to carry out executions," Demetrius Minor, the preacher at Tampa Life Church, said in a statement.

"As someone who serves on Gov. DeSantis' Faith & Community Initiative and is a supporter of many of his policies, I urge Governor DeSantis to honor life by pausing executions."