Florida Supreme Court upholds death sentences by nonunanimous juries

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida’s Supreme Court has upheld a state law allowing nonunanimous juries to sentence people to death, cementing the lowest bar in the country for death sentences at a time when the state is driving a national increase in executions.

In a decision released Thursday, the court affirmed a 2023 law that ended a unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing, rejecting arguments by death row inmates Michael Hunt and Michael Jackson that their sentences are unconstitutional.

Florida law allows capital punishment with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution, the lowest standard in the nation, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. Alabama is the only other state to allow the imposition of death sentences by nonunanimous juries, with the slightly higher threshold of 10-2.

Florida lawmakers passed the nonunanimous jury measure in response to a verdict that spared the life of the school shooter who killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Florida’s death penalty sentencing requirements have shifted repeatedly in recent years, following legal challenges and changes on the state’s high court, where five of the seven justices were appointed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

For decades, Florida had not required unanimity in capital punishment, allowing a judge to impose the death penalty as long as a majority of jurors were in favor of the penalty. But in 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the state’s system, saying it allowed judges too much discretion.

The state Legislature then passed a bill requiring a 10-2 jury recommendation, but the state Supreme Court at the time said such recommendations should be unanimous, prompting lawmakers in 2017 to require a unanimous jury.

Three years later, the state Supreme Court, with new conservative jurists appointed by DeSantis, rescinded its earlier decision and ruled that a death recommendation does not need to be unanimous.

In recent years, the state has also expanded which offenses can warrant the death penalty to include child rape convictions, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned capital punishment in such cases.

Meanwhile, Florida’s record-breaking spate of executions continues under DeSantis, with another man scheduled to die Thursday evening in what would be the state’s 19th execution in 2025.

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Kate Payne is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.