President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger said the Alabama Senate took strong measures to protect children across Alabama on Thursday by awarding final passage to legislation making child predators eligible for the death penalty and a bill that shields minors from inappropriate app store content.
“With passage of the Child Predator Death Penalty Act, we have notified those who prey upon the most defenseless Alabamians that they will be eligible for a non-stop trip straight to Hell departing from the death chamber at Holman prison,” Gudger said. “And by requiring app store age filters, we can shield our children from exposure to inappropriate content, which seems to become more common, accessible, and prevalent in our culture each day.”
Gudger said the Senate calendar was purposely stacked with the legislation in order to highlight the need to protect children from harm, crime and adult content.
The Child Predator Death Penalty Act, which was carried in the Senate by Senator April Weaver, allows prosecutors to request the death penalty for those convicted of raping, sodomizing or committing sexual torture on children younger than 12 years old.
Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, the death penalty is currently applicable only in cases involving the loss of life—such as murder, robbery in which an individual is killed, and others—but passing the law in Alabama will help force the court to reconsider its precedent, according to Gudger.
Florida, Tennessee, Idaho, Oklahoma and Mississippi are among the states that have enacted similar laws in a direct challenge to the narrow 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which found that executing child predators was “unusual punishment” because so few states imposed the death penalty for such offenses.
Legislation carried by Senator Clyde Chambliss requires electronic app stores to verify a user’s age and link accounts held by minors to their parents’ accounts.
Chambliss, who previously passed into law a bill requiring adult content filters to be activated at the time of cell phone purchases, said the legislation will prevent children from downloading age-inappropriate apps without their parents’ knowledge.
Under the provisions of the bill, children would be placed in an age category when setting up an app store account, and parents or guardians would create linked accounts allowing them to approve apps before download.
The measure would also empower the attorney general to bring action when violations by app stores occur, and parents would be allowed to bring civil actions for failure to comply.
Both bills go to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk for review and signature.
