Florida Death Penalty Law Ruled Unconstitutional

View of the execution chamber in a Florida prison. Photo: Florida Department ofCorrections/Doug Smith | Wikimedia Commons.

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that part of Florida’s law governing the death penalty is unconstitutional. Specifically, Florida law has a provision, which allows judges to assign the death penalty to defendants found guilty, without requiring the jury to suggest it. The Florida law violates the Sixth Amendment.

According to the Supreme Court, it’s up to a jury to decide whether or not a guilty party should be given the death penalty, by determining if factors of the case warrant it. Generally, this is due to the nature of the crime, not just if it is something for which the death penalty can be given, but how or why the crime was committed. These aggravating factors are required to qualify a person for the death sentence.

The Florida law calls for jury advisement, but allows the judge to determine if the death penalty applies. This violates the Sixth Amendment because that calls for an impartial jury to decide a defendant’s fate, not a single judge.

Florida has 390 people on death row, the second longest list in the country, but this ruling could require the state to go over some of those cases. One in particular, the case that came to the Supreme Court in the first place, is that of Timothy Hurst, found guilty for the 1998 murder of Cynthia Harrison in Pensacola. In that case the judge assigned the death penalty, and now that case will be review to determine if Hurst can be re-sentenced.

Other states, namely Alabama, Delaware, and Montana, have similar laws on the books, which may have to be changed as well. This ruling could have an impact throughout the country, at least in those states, which have the death penalty. There are a number of advocates against the death penalty, and they will likely be encouraged by this ruling and push for further revisions along these lines.