The Florida Supreme Court has ruled capital sentences in the state must be unanimous, and it has sent a death row inmate back to court for a new penalty hearing.
Harvard’s Fair Punishment Project is highlighting a number of counties that are outliers in terms of capital sentencing. Four of those counties are in Florida.
The Florida Supreme Court Tuesday took up a case that could spell trouble for the state’s new capital sentencing system. The court is deciding whether Florida should require unanimous jury recommendations for the death penalty.
A Miami-area judge has ruled Florida’s new capital sentencing scheme is unconstitutional. The judge found fault with the law’s lack of a unanimity requirement for death sentence recommendations.
In January the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated Florida’s death sentencing system. Now Florida’s high court is considering how the ruling applies to inmates waiting on death row. Their decision could change the sentences of nearly four hundred men and women.
Florida’s high court is deliberating the fate of Timothy Hurst—the death row inmate whose case prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to throw out the Florida’s capital sentencing scheme. But some on the bench have doubts about newly passed sentencing procedures.
The Florida Legislature is on the verge of approving new death penalty procedures. The Senate is moving ahead with a compromise proposal from the House.
The Senate took its shot at compromise Wednesday for a new capital sentencing scheme. The chambers are trying to find common ground between unanimous jury recommendations and a supermajority.
The House has approved changes to the state’s sentencing system requiring at least ten jurors agree before recommending the death penalty. But the Senate’s proposal requires unanimity.
The Florida House is moving forward with a new capital sentencing scheme after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the existing system just over a month ago. But even with last minute changes, lawmakers are hesitant to completely embrace unanimity.
In its Hurst versus Florida ruling, the US Supreme Court found Florida’s death penalty sentencing scheme unconstitutional. Now it’s up to the Florida Legislature to fix this system, but the question is how.
Florida’s 389 death row inmates are in limbo after the US Supreme Court invalidated the state’s capital sentencing system. The top court in Florida has to decide if the ruling applies retroactively.
