As Florida continues to add to a modern-era record for executions in a year, Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday said he is bringing justice to victims’ families.

Florida has executed 15 inmates this year, with two more scheduled in November. The previous modern-era record for a year was eight in 1984 and 2014. Before this year, the most executions carried out since DeSantis took office was six in 2023.

DeSantis said he thinks the death penalty could be a “strong deterrent” if sentences were more quickly carried out. He suggested that the increase in death warrants could have started years earlier but that he needed time to get settled into office after first being elected in 2018 and that priorities shifted as the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020.

The state did not execute any inmates in 20

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