USA - Florida. The Senate passed the law to speed up executions. it now goes to Gov. Rick Scott.

The Florida Senate passed 28-10 the Timely Justice Act of 2013 (HB 7083), that now goes to Gov. Rick Scott for his consideration. The bill accelerates the state's capital punishment process that was criticized for allowing some condemned inmates to languish for decades on death row. As of early March, Florida had 404 inmates on death row, with 155 in custody for more than 20 years, according to a House staff analysis. 10 had been on death row for more than 35 years. Gov. Scott has not indicated where he stands on the legislation, and his office declined to comment last week. The House passed the Timely Justice Act by an 84-34 vote last week. The bill creates tighter timeframes for appeals, post-conviction motions and imposes reporting requirements on case progress. It also re-establishes a separate agency for north Florida to provide appellate-level legal representation to inmates sentenced to death, and requires them to "pursue all possible remedies in state court."