Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a pair of bills Tuesday aimed at strengthening protections for children and requiring judges to hold without bond individuals convicted of certain dangerous crimes.
Missy’s death was preventable, DeSantis said while blaming the judge who released her stepfather, and the new legislation will help prevent such crimes.
“If you have somebody convicted of a serious crime, revoke their bail. Send them to jail,” the governor said. “I think most judges in Florida get that and have done it, but not all of them.”
DeSantis said Missy’s killing was caused by “miscarriage of justice” and “dereliction of judicial duty.”
“[Missy’s Law] makes sure that these types of sexual offenses mean that a judge must remand the convicted defendant to custody,” the governor said.
Spencer is charged with first-degree murder in Missy’s death, and jury selection is set to begin in June.
At the Tuesday event in Tampa, attended by Missy’s family, DeSantis also called on the state Legislature to impeach Judge Tiffany Baker-Carper, who released Spencer while he awaited his sentencing date after he was convicted on child sex crimes with a 15-year-old.
The governor said prosecutors asked Baker-Carper to revoke Spencer’s bail, and she refused.
Neither Baker-Carper nor her judicial assistant could be reached for comment.
According to the Florida Constitution, the state House needs a two-thirds majority to bring an impeachment against a circuit judge, followed by another two-thirds vote in the state Senate to remove.
Republicans have well over that number in the lower chamber. In the upper chamber, consisting of 40 state senators, Republicans hold 27 seats, just enough to meet the requirement.
“Honestly, I think some Democrats would vote to impeach given what happened in [Missy’s] case,” DeSantis said. “I know [Missy’s family] is very supportive of seeing this judge impeached.”
Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier said, “We still have too many occasions, even in the great state of Florida, where we have leftist, activist judges pushing an agenda—wrongfully pushing social justice instead of criminal justice.”
Judge Baker-Carper’s decision to release Spencer on bond “rises to the level of a ‘misdemeanor in office,’” Uthmeier’s letter said.
The Florida Supreme Court defined “misdemeanor in office” as a ground for impeachment that includes any acts involving moral turpitude that are contrary to accepted norms of justice, honesty, or good morals.
“The first duty of all public officials is to ensure public safety,” Uthmeier wrote in his letter to Speaker Perez. “Judge Baker-Carper failed in her most fundamental duty.”
Missy’s Law strengthens the state’s pretrial detention rules for certain dangerous crimes, requiring that an individual convicted of such a crime be held without bond while awaiting sentencing.
The legislation also expands the statutory list of dangerous crimes to include certain computer pornography and child exploitation offenses.
House Bill 1159 also addresses future emerging threats with artificial intelligence by criminalizing new forms of exploitation involving generated child sexual abuse content.
“Unfortunately, you’re going to have a reckoning with artificial intelligence,” DeSantis said. “I think this bill is a great first step in dealing with this really horrible exploitation of minors.”
