WPBN: The state of Florida led the nation in the imposition of death sentences this year, according to an annual study that was compiled by a national organization that monitors the death penalty.
This situation appears to be connected to the successful campaign that Governor Ron DeSantis made to eliminate the requirement of a unanimous jury recommendation.
In 2024, the United States of America handed out sentences of death to a total of 26 individuals, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, an organization that maintains that it does not take a stance on the death penalty but is critical of the manner in which it is carried out.
In 2018, ten states handed down death sentences to individuals, however just four of those states accounted for the majority of the executions: Alabama, California, Florida, and Texas.
When it came to the number of death sentences, Florida led the pack with seven, followed by Texas with six, Alabama with four, and California with three.
Six of the new death sentences were handed down in the state of Florida, while three of them were handed down in the state of Alabama. This is approximately one-third of the total of 26 new death sentences.
Changes to the laws of Florida
The death penalty law in Florida had been subject to a number of amendments over the course of the previous twenty years, one of which was the transition to a recommendation from a jury that was unanimous.
This change came about as a result of decisions made by both the United States Supreme Court and the state Supreme Court.
As a result of the failure of a jury to recommend a death sentence for Nikolas Cruz, the gunman who was responsible for the deaths of 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland in 2018, DeSantis made efforts to repeal the requirement that the jury must reach a unanimous decision.
In April of 2023, DeSantis gave his signature to the bill, which makes it possible for a vote of 8-4 to vote in favor of recommending a death sentence.
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“Once a defendant in a capital case is found guilty by a unanimous jury, one juror should not be able to veto a capital sentence,” DeSantis stated at the time. “I’m proud to sign legislation that will prevent families from having to endure what the Parkland families have and ensure proper justice will be served in the state of Florida.”
Last week, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Michael James Jackson, who is being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and is contesting the legality of the new statute. By a vote of 8–4, the jury suggested that Jackson receive the death penalty.
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The absence of a unanimous jury recommendation, according to local and national organizations, is a violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, which addresses due process and equal protection, and the Eighth Amendment, which addresses harsh and unusual punishment.
Although there were more new death sentences and executions than in 2023, the amount was still far lower than it was 20 years earlier, when there were 130 new death sentences and 59 executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
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According to a recent poll, the majority of Americans between the ages of 18 and 43 now oppose the death penalty, which might lead to a “steady decline of support in the future,” according to Robin M. Maher, executive director of the center.
According to the organization, 25 executions had taken place in nine states in the previous year, including Florida, where Loran Cole was executed for the 1994 murder of John Edwards, a Florida State University student who was camping in the Ocala National Forest with his sister.
