At this point in the evolution of civilization, it should not even be an issue. Florida would have become the 14th this spring but for the dictatorship of a House committee chairman, Randy Ball, R-Mims, who refused to let the bill be heard. The Senate passed its bill unanimously. By trying to take it up out of turn on the House floor, sponsors forced the Republican leadership to crack the whip in support of Ball. Even so, the vote was close, 58-50, and 13 Republicans voted their consciences instead of the leadership line.
Ball is still the problem.
He has only a write-in opponent and evidently is counting on reappointment as chair of the House Crime and Punishment Committee. Perhaps at some point in the future, greater consideration can be given . . . If anybody is unclear on how the system works, it is Ball himself. Even now, he told Mann, juries can consider mental retardation before recommending sentence. But they don't have to consider it.