The Impact Of Supreme Court Decision On Florida’s Death Sentence

The fate of 400 death row inmates could be turned around after one death sentence in the state was overruled due to it being “unconstitutional” by Florida’s highest court. But legal experts said it may apply only to those whose initial appeals are not yet exhausted.

Mr Hurst was convicted in 1998 of shooting dead Cynthia Lee Harrison, a manager of a Popeye Fried Chciken restaurant.

In Tuesday’s opinion, Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote on behalf of the court and deemed Florida’s current sentencing scheme a violation of the Sixth Amendment.

The decision united the courts liberals and conservatives, who voted 8 to 1 against the system employed by a state thats among the leaders in imposing capital punishment. The Supreme Court takes issue with the fact that the judge can find certain aggravating factors were reasons for giving the death penalty, even if the jury did not- in the Court’s opinion, that means the judge can impose a sentence harsher than what the jury recommended.

Justice Samuel Alito was the sole dissenting justice, arguing that “the jury plays a critically important role” in the Florida system, sufficient for what Ring requires under the Sixth Amendment’s right to a jury trial. A judge then decides separately whether the facts surrounding a murder include aggravating factors that warrant the death penalty.

In this undated photo made available by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, inmate Timothy Lee Hurst.

The U.S. Supreme Court struck down Florida’s death penalty process Tuesday in a ruling that will have a historical impact on death penalty cases past and present. Lawmakers should respond to the court decision with a vigorous review and smart legislation that would make Florida’s death penalty legally bullet-proof. If judges can find their own set of facts and use them to alter a jury’s verdict, the Constitution’s jury trial guarantee is largely meaningless.

The opinion was a reversal of previous Supreme Court rulings upholding Florida’s capital sentencing structure, but Bruce Miller, public defender for the Florida First Judicial Circuit, said it was a decision that was a long time coming.

As the Miami Herald reports, “In 27 of the 31 states that maintain the death penalty, the jury makes the final decision whether to impose the death penalty”.

That violates the defendant’s right to an impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment.

There are hundreds of inmates in Florida prisons sitting on death row, including some prominent Central Florida convicts. Neither did Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi.

Howard Simon, executive director of the ACLU of Florida, praised the high court’s decision. In Hursts case, the jury recommended death on a vote of 7 to 5, citing the two aggravating circumstances.

It is not yet clear how the ruling will affect those, other than Hurst, already awaiting execution in Florida.

But retroactivity is a question that depends in part at least on state law, and the Florida Supreme Court has given greater leeway for retroactivity claims than most other states, according to criminal law specialists.

The Supreme Court says Florida’s system for sentencing people to death is unconstitutional because it gives too much power to judges – and not enough to juries – to decide capital sentences.