Florida has reopened one of the most consequential debates surrounding punishment for sexual crimes against children, with a state law allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty in certain cases involving victims under the age of 12.

The measure, signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis, applies to adults convicted of sexual battery against a child younger than 12 and was deliberately crafted in conflict with existing United States Supreme Court precedent.

Under the law, a jury may recommend a death sentence following a conviction, although the legislation acknowledges that current Supreme Court rulings prohibit capital punishment in cases where the victim does not die.

That restriction stems from the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision in Kennedy v. Louisiana, which held that imposing the death penalty for the rape of a child, where the crime did not result in death, violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.

Florida lawmakers nevertheless moved forward with the legislation, creating a pathway for the issue to potentially return to the nation’s highest court.

DeSantis has argued that particularly severe sexual crimes against young children warrant the harshest possible punishment and has openly expressed his disagreement with the 2008 ruling.

The law has attracted renewed attention on social media, where supporters have praised Florida for taking a tougher approach to child sexual abuse and have called on other states to consider similar measures.

Critics and legal experts, however, have raised constitutional concerns and warned that the legislation faces significant legal obstacles unless the Supreme Court overturns or substantially revises its earlier ruling.

The debate also extends beyond the constitutionality of capital punishment. Opponents of such laws have argued that making child rape punishable by death could create unintended consequences, particularly in cases where offenders know their victims or may attempt to prevent them from reporting the crime.

Supporters maintain that those convicted of the most serious sexual offences against children should face the strongest penalties available under law.

Florida’s move ultimately places the state at the centre of a broader legal battle, one that could eventually force the US Supreme Court to reconsider a precedent that has stood for nearly two decades.