The Supreme Court found Florida’s unique system of imposing a death sentence unconstitutional on Tuesday, saying it gives power to judges that is rightfully reserved for juries.
The decision united the court’s liberals and most of its conservatives, who voted 8 to 1 against the system employed by a state that’s among the leaders in imposing capital punishment. Florida has nearly 400 inmates on death row.
400! That’s downright Saudi.
It seems likely that the ruling will have limited impact outside of Florida, because no other state has exactly the same procedure. Alabama, another state with a higher-than-average history of imposing the death penalty, allows a judge to overrule a jury’s findings about whether the convicted person should be put to death.
And the Florida legislature is planning to fix what it sees as a problem, so that the state can continue killing people.
Leaders of the Florida legislature, who gathered in Tallahassee for their annual session, said they will quickly change state law to meet the high court’s specifications.
“The Supreme Court has impeccable timing,” House Speaker Steve Crisafulli (R) said.
I love it when legislators make capital punishment jokes, don’t you?
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3 responses to “Impeccable timing”
400! That’s downright Saudi
Yeah!
Another thing, are even one or two of them White?
I love America and I love Americans, but sometimes I’m left perplexed…
How can a lone judge impose the death penalty on someone? Isn’t it just a wee tad safer if that decision is made by a group of 12 people sifting through the evidence and comparing notes?
@^
Even safer when nobody gets to make that decision.
Not having a lot of faith in judges after seeing some in action I have to say that I have a hell of a lot less faith in juries – having seen some of them in action. Whether judge or jury it’s always a crap shoot but I’m not sure I’d want my fate to rest in the hands of of a bunch of people who weren’t smart enough to get out of jury duty.