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Joining a rising number of states that prohibit the execution of individuals who are mentally retarded, Gov. Jeb Bush extended the ban to Florida under a bill he signed into law Tuesday.
Florida joins 14 other states and the federal government in banning executions of prisoners deemed mentally retarded, according to data from the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington.
Twelve states have no death penalty.
In Florida, Bush had personally intervened to salvage the legislation when it stalled in the House of Representatives in the waning days of the annual legislative session that ended May 4.
