“I thought this was something that needs to be repealed for a number of reasons,” state Rep. Rehwinkel Vasilinda said. “If we’re interested in cutting budgets and costs, it seems to me that the death penalty is much more expensive than life in prison without possibility of parole.”

This North Florida Democrat has proposed ending capital punishment in the state of Florida.

From the News Service of Florida:

The death penalty would be abolished in Florida under legislation filed Tuesday by Rep. Michelle Rehwinkel Vasilinda. The proposal (HB 4189) is yet to be assigned to any committees, and would appear to have an uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Legislature.

The measure simply removes the provisions of state law setting the death penalty for capital offenses and all other laws related to it. The second term Democrat told The Tallahassee Democrat that while she’s morally opposed to the death penalty, she thought outlawing it also makes financial sense.

The high cost of the death penalty - because of required appeals and reviews - has been cited by opponents of capital punishment. Other opponents of the death penalty say it’s problematic because of the number of people on death row who have been shown by DNA evidence brought to light after conviction to be innocent.