A measure to raise the minimum age for the death penalty...

A measure to raise the minimum age for the death penalty to 18 passed a key Senate committee, moving Florida one step closer to joining a national trend of halting the execution of minors. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Victor Crist, R-Tampa, is a strong supporter of the death penalty, but he said young people are different because they don't understand consequences like an adult. Crist, who is sponsoring the bill for the fifth time in 5 years, said he is confident it will pass the Senate, but he is less certain of the House, where Speaker Johnnie Byrd has said he opposes the move. The Senate bill (SB 224) easily passed the Criminal Justice Committee. Wyoming and South Dakota last month became the latest states to ban juvenile executions, and the U.S. Supreme Court will decide this fall whether it is unconstitutional to put minors to death. The federal government and 19 states already prohibit executing juveniles. Twelve other states have no capital punishment. Though 72 juvenile offenders are on death rows across the nation, 3 of them in Florida, juvenile executions are becoming increasingly rare. Florida has not put a minor to death since 1954, and only 22 juvenile offenders have been executed since 1985 -- most of them in Texas.