Seven men have been executed by the state of Florida this year. Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed death warrants for two others, with the next one scheduled for next week.
A group of faith leaders called for a pause in Tallahassee on Tuesday.
"It's the fastest pace of killings since Florida reinstated the death penalty," said Demetrius Minor, one of several who spoke at a church near the Capitol.
Florida reinstated its death penalty in 1976 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a previous ruling that ended capital punishment. Since then, the most people executed in the state in one year is eight, under Govs. Rick Scott (2014) and Bob Graham (1984).
"We ask you to declare a moratorium on executions," Minor continued, "because mercy is not weakness, accountability is not annihilation, and the Gospel we preach calls us not to throw people away but to affirm every person, no matter how far they have fallen."
Minor, a Tampa-area preacher, is executive director of Conservatives Concerned, which opposes the death penalty. He's also a member of DeSantis' Faith and Community Initiative.
Minor is one of more than 100 faith leaders who signed off on a letter addressed to the governor. Several of them delivered the letter on Tuesday.
"Florida's death penalty system is plagued by racial disparities, a long and painful process that retraumatizes families, and a troubling history of wrongful convictions," it reads.
In 2023, DeSantis signed a bill ending a unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing.
When asked for comment, the governor's office shared remarks DeSantis made in May.
"I support capital punishment, because I think there are some crimes that are just so horrific the only appropriate punishment is the death penalty," he said.
The next inmate scheduled for lethal injection next week is Michael Bell, who was sentenced for the 1993 murders of two people outside a Jacksonville bar. He's been convicted of other murders as well.
The Florida Supreme Court refused to halt his execution on Tuesday.
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This story was produced by WUSF as part of a statewide journalism initiative funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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