Melissa Ross
As happens every October, the U.S. Supreme Court has begun a new term, with a Florida death penalty case one of the major cases it’s weighing.
At least six capital-punishment cases are on the high court’s docket, after a recent flurry of executions across the country have led to dramatic, last-minute appeals.
On Tuesday, the nine will examine the robbery and murder of a Popeye’s restaurant manager in Escambia County. The case involves whether Florida’s trial procedure gave the judge too much discretion in imposing a capital sentence, instead of allowing the jury to decide whether to mete out the death penalty.
Attorneys presenting oral arguments in the case of Hurst v. Florida will contend that Florida’s death penalty system is in violation of a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Ring v. Arizona. That found that a jury – not a judge – must find that a defendant qualifies for the death penalty. Most other states whose statutes violated Ring have changed their laws, but Florida has not.
Death penalty opponents now argue that Florida is an outlier, one of only two states that allow a defendant to be put to death based only on a jury recommendation.
The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a 2013 law that legislative supporters said would reduce delays in carrying out the death penalty.
Last year, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the “Timely Justice Act,” a 2013 law that legislative supporters said would reduce delays in carrying out the death penalty.
Justices, in a unanimous decision, rejected arguments that the Act would be an unconstitutional infringement on the court system’s authority and separation of powers, and violate due-process and equal-protection rights.
Watch the high court on Hurst. Meanwhile, two bills have been filed to change the statute in the Florida Legislature – HB 157 by Rep. Jose Javier Rodriguez and SB 330 by Sen. Thad Altman.
