The St. Augustine Record published an article written by our current Charles Koch Institute Communications Intern, Kelli Huck. In the piece, Huck described how Florida Governor Scott is overreaching in his attempts to strip Orange-Osceola State Attorney Ayala of certain cases and Scott is ignoring her constituents’ wishes.
Huck stated,
Immediately after the announcement, Gov. Rick Scott removed her from the highly publicized Markeith Loyd case, in which he is accused of killing his ex-girlfriend as well as a police officer.
Gov. Scott claims Ayala “has made it clear that she will not fight for justice,” which couldn’t be further from the truth. While Scott appears to be overreaching and defending an irrevocably broken death penalty system, she is the one honestly addressing the problems and she has the authority to figure out what best serves her community.
Then Huck listed the many reasons why conservatives should support Ayala’s decision, including the death penalty’s risk to innocent life, high cost, failure to protect society, and harm on murder victims’ families, and she closed by writing,
It is understandable that Ayala has decided to not seek the death penalty. Gov. Scott should respect the will of the people who voted for her. Her decision makes sense for her community.