The state prosecutor of Central Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit has been expelled from 21 homicide cases. Florida Governor Rick Scott made the declaration effective on Monday. Aramis Ayala was removed after her refusal to consider the death penalty in court cases. In rebuttal, Ayala blames Scott for manipulating his power and authority just to compromise the judiciary system. Florida is 1 out of 31 states that proceed with the death penalty after criminal prosecutions.
Fired for no death motivation
Ayala covers court cases in Orlando, FL. She took to her position as state prosecutor in January.
By March, her actions started a debate after the state prosecutor declined to consider capital punishment for the murder of a cop in Orlando. She said legal chaos was her motivation not to seek criminal execution.
Many people were in support of her choice. They even engaged in a marching campaign out of Tallahassee, FL just to rally for her. However, the Florida governor stated on Monday, "Ayala's total disregard to consider the death penalty during her term in office sends a derogatory note that she is not keen on considering each accessible choice when fighting for justice."
Since removing Ayala, Governor Scott has turned all her cases over to State Attorney Brad King- including the other 21 cases she was expelled from.
Capital punishment: Supreme Court versus Florida
The concept of capital punishment has been a controversial topic in the state of Florida for over a year. The death penalty has been subject to debate since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in January 2016 that the state's capital punishment was illegal. The high court ruled that the sentence coming out of Florida gave more authority to the judge rather than the jury.
In a counter attack against the Supreme Court’s choice, Scott signed an executive order in March that would require juries to suggest on things that empower a judge to enforce the death penalty in court.
Statistics show that 1,436 people were executed after being sentenced to death in the United States from 1977 through May 2016.
Their deaths were primarily a result of lethal injection. Most capital punishment cases are usually connected to espionage, murder, conspiracy, terrorism, and treason.
People like Rick Scott who favor the death penalty consider it viable in the preservation of law and order. However, people like Aramis Ayala say it has no deterrent effect on criminal activity.
