Veterans group urges Florida Gov to halt execution of condemned vets

As reported in this UPI piece, as “Florida preps to execute its fourth U.S. veteran this year, more than 130 U.S. veterans in nearly every branch of service have requested for Gov. Ron DeSantis to end the state’s executions of convicted vets.” Here is more:

A coalition of American veterans will gather Wednesday morning in the state’s capital of Tallahassee to issue a plea in a signed letter to DeSantis, imploring the two-term Republican to stop Florida’s executions of American military service veterans.

“To execute a veteran who was broken by war and left without adequate care is not justice,” the letter by veterans with a combined 1,400 years of service reads in part. “It is a failure of duty,” it added. “It is the final abandonment.”

Wednesday’s press event and letter presentation in Tallahassee organized by the Center for Veteran Criminal Advocacy will highlight advocates and Tom Dunn, a retired U.S. Army officer and attorney for Florida death row inmate and veteran Kyle Bates. “Executing our nation’s warriors should call for deep soul searching,” said Art Cody, the center’s director, on Monday. “We owe veterans better than what they are now receiving in Florida.”

Bates is scheduled for death on Aug. 19 and, if executed as planned, will be Florida’s fourth veteran and 10th individual this year executed in the Sunshine State….

The veteran-supported letter to the former GOP presidential candidate pointed out that five U.S. vets — Bobby Joe Long, Duane Owen, Edward James, Jeffrey Hutchinson and Edward Zakrzewski — had been put to death since DeSantis took office in January 2019. “There are close to 30 veterans remaining on death row, and countless others facing death penalty trials throughout the state,” the letter says….

DeSantis, 46, was a lawyer and U.S. Navy veteran prior to his 2007 Iraq War deployment. “We can never be a veteran friendly state when our leader is signing off on their deaths at the hands of the State,” the letter to DeSantis stated. “We urge you now to lead from a place of bravery, to return to the honor code from your service and to stop setting the executions of our fellow soldiers.”

More than 2,000 people currently await execution in the United Staes. Data by the Center for Death Penalty Litigation suggests that veterans represent around 10% of America’s prison inmates sitting on death row.