SB1804 makes it a capital felony to subject a child younger than 12 years of age to human trafficking for sexual exploitation.
The Senate passed SB1804 on April 28, 2025, by a vote of 27 to 11. We have assigned pluses to the yeas because child-sex trafficking is a serious crime that demands the death penalty. As justice is the overall purpose of government, the State of Florida has a dual role of securing the “unalienable Rights” to life and liberty while punishing anyone responsible for depriving them. Importantly, the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment addresses “capital” crimes. Criminal codes before and during the time of the American Founding, such as the 1641 Laws of New England, confirm that kidnapping, like rape, is a deep violation of personhood, and therefore an assault on both God’s image and man’s calling. The “due process” and “equal protection” requirements in the Bill of Rights and the 14th Amendment follow the Common Law retributive principle that “the punishment should fit the crime.”
