The Supreme Court of the US announced that it will change the process of sentencing capital punishments. This news placed uncertainty to the 390 inmates of Florida's death row.
Florida Supreme Court agreed that it will consider talks on whether the ruling of the U.S. high court will be applied retroactively. This could affect the two upcoming executions this coming February and March. Reuters reported that the courts of Florida was instructed by the American Bar Association to hold off any pending executions.
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Florida has the second highest number of people in death row compared to other states, though it has not carried out any executions in a decade. According to US News, Sarah Turberville, director of justice programs for the Constitution Project says that the current death penalty scheme in Florida is in limbo. Last week, in an 8-1 decision, U.S justice found that Florida unconstitutionally gives judges power over the juries. It has allowed the judges, not the juries to specify that aggravating factors that determine a defendant's eligibility for execution. Example to this is the case reviewed by the high court, the jury had it 7 against 5 recommending a death sentence for Timothy Hurst in the 1998 murder of a fried-chicken restaurant manager, without specifying what aggravating factors applied.
Though experts believe that there will be fewer impacts on other states, the imminent change in Florida could shift the U.S capital punishment dramatically. Karen Gottlieb, co- director of the Florida Center for Capital Punishment thinks that every case will be affected focusing on the retroactivity clause, as reported by Yahoo News.
Pam Bondi, Florida's Attorney General, said that the impact of the court's ruling on existing death sentences needs to be evaluated, a single case at a time. The willingness of the Republican- controlled legislature to reform the state's death penalty sentencing process is yet to be seen.
Carlos Trujillo, chairman of the criminal justice subcommittee in the Florida House of Representatives reiterate that there is no appetite to repeal the death penalty and expects to introduce a bill addressing the issues addressed only.
