Editorials

Florida takes too long to carry out the death penalty

Highlands Today
Published: April 15, 2012

Most folks have strong opinions about the death penalty. A majority of Americans support it and the rest either struggle with it or are firmly against it. It's a moral issue, for sure, but we have a problem with how long it takes for someone to be executed in Florida, even when they've confessed and there's no question they are guilty.

David Alan Gore died peacefully Thursday evening, unlike the women he brutally raped, murdered and mutilated more than 29 years ago. He'd been on death row since 1983.

He was only convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of 17-year-old Lynn Elliott, but he raped and killed four teenagers and two women in all before he was captured. Family members of the victims have hung on, waiting for Gore to die. Some barely made it.

In the murder of Elliott, Gore was seen shooting her in the head as she tried to escape with her hands bound after being raped. He admitted to the crime — as well as others — and even showed authorities where he hid four of the bodies.

For 28 years he sat on death row. Taxpayers fed and housed him, took care of his medical needs, paid for any legal challenges his lawyers tossed out. Taxpayers, no doubt, paid to bury him as well.

We have no qualms with anyone who doesn't support the death penalty. We also believe anyone sentenced to death should have plenty of time to mount a defense to appeal it, find DNA evidence or anything else that might exonerate him or her. But in cases like this, where he admits to the crime and even shows where the bodies are buried, there is nothing more to doubt.

It's unbelievable that it took 28 years for the law of the land to be implemented. For those who feel sorry for Gore, they should at least believe that it's not fair that anyone face death for that long. For those who have no problem with his execution, well, they would have preferred his death sentence be carried out 28 years ago.

Gore isn't the only Florida death row inmate who has been held for decades. Changes should be made to shorten this process in cases where there is no doubt of guilt, where legitimate confessions were made and the guilty man or woman even shows where the bodies are buried.

Twenty-eight years is too long for justice to be served.