FRIDAY, MAY 5, 2017
POLITICS
By: Chris Norwood
AN INDEPENDENT SUPPLEMENT BY MIA MEDIA & COMMUNICATIONS GROUP TO THE SUN SENTINEL
BB9
Florida Introduces First African-American State's A�orney
Chris Norwood
Aramis Ayala is the first African-
American State's A�orney in the history of
Florida and she's not afraid to let the world
know there's a new sheriff in town. Ayala, a
1st �me candidate for public office,
defeated incumbent Orange-Osceola State
A�orney Jeff Ashton in a Democra�c
primary in August. Stunning Ashton who
became a household name in Central
Florida as the lead prosecutor in the
murder trial of Casey Anthony in 2008.
Ayala's story is compelling, and she is a
rising star for Florida Democrats who sorely
need new life and diversity. She won her
campaign as the State A�orney despite the
fact that her husband since 2009, David,
served seven years in prison on drug
conspiracy and counterfei�ng charges
before they met and married.
She obviously is someone that has great
character and sees people beyond
circumstance. So it's not surprising that on
March 16th she walked to the lectern at
the courthouse and addressed the media
announcing that she would not prosecute
death penalty cases within her jurisdic�on
because, “While the South, including
Florida, accounts for around 80% of
execu�ons, we also have the highest
murder rate. This does not describe
deterrence”.
This sent shock waves throughout the
state, especially in Tallahassee during the
annual legisla�ve session. Within hours
Governor Rick Sco� removed her from the
case involving accused cop-killer Markieth
Loyd. Then weeks later the Governor
removed her from 21 capital murder cases.
The Legislature is deba�ng a few bills that
will defund her office and create a
cons�tu�onal amendment to allow for
impeachment of state a�orneys for
“misbehavior”.
In other words, It's On! So now the
interes�ng ques�on is “what will Florida
Democrats do to protect her?” Just to be
fair, Ayala did make an error poli�cally. She
didn't need to declare her opposi�on to the
death penalty publicly. When you have the
discre�on of the State A�orney, you don't
have to declare your power to use it.
Clearly a rookie poli�cal mistake.
Nevertheless, the fact s�ll remains that the
death penalty is not a deterrent and is
socioeconomically discriminatory.
She will surely be challenged by many in
her re-elec�on bid in a few years, she
already has a filed challenger who did so in
the midst of this current controversy. The
Florida Republican Party will make her their
rallying cry in 2018. I can see the wri�ng on
the wall, it's s o apparent.
We need someone like Aramis Ayala to
run for Florida A�orney General in 2018,
it's the gall to be different that people
gravitate to. Lord knows we need
something different from the laughable
Florida Democra�c Party. Florida
Democrats have won only one Florida
Cabinet posi�on (Governor, CFO, Ag
Commissioner and A�orney General) out of
the last 16 state-wide elec�ons, although
outnumbering Republicans since the 1800s.
It’s �me to democra�ze the Democra�c
nominees for Cabinet. If the Florida
Democra�c Party doesn't recognize this,
then it's �me for Independent Democrats
for Florida to step up to the challenge and
go for self.
"She obviously is
someone that has great
character and sees people
beyond
circumstance."