Death Penalty

A new state law lowering the number of jurors required to recommend death sentences has spurred a rash of litigation, triggered conflicting judicial rulings and infused an additional level of uncertainty in capital cases.

Extended summary: With Florida making it easier for juries to impose the death sentence, two formerly condemned inmates who are still behind bars are warning that the change gives too much power over life and death to elected prosecutors. Their concerns are at odds with some families of murder victims. The two killers were sentenced to life in prison after juries couldn’t unanimously agree to condemn them. Gov. Ron DeSantis last month signed into law a bill permitting the death penalty even in cases where only eight of 12 jurors approve. The state previously required all 12 jurors to agree. The law took effect immediately.

A death penalty for child rape bill (HB 1297) signed by Florida's governor Monday conflicts with U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court precedents that have barred death sentences for rapists, including a 2008 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

The new death penalty law took effect immediately and represents a major change in Florida’s death-penalty system. Lawmakers moved forward with the issue after Nikolas Cruz was sentenced to life in prison last year in the 2018 shooting deaths of 17 students and faculty members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The life sentence came after a jury did not unanimously recommend death.

The proposal comes after decades of U.S. Supreme Court and Florida Supreme Court rulings that have said it is unconstitutional to execute defendants in rape cases. A Senate staff analysis said nobody has been executed for a non-murder crime in the United States since 1964.

Florida lawmakers Wednesday reached the halfway point in this year’s 60-day legislative session. The House and Senate have passed high-profile bills involving issues such as affordable housing and school vouchers, but major issues remain to be resolved.

After issuing a bombshell decision in January about the death penalty, the Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday heard arguments in two potentially far...

Attorney General Ashley Moody’s office is urging the Florida Supreme Court to reverse course on decisions that allowed dozens of convicted murderers to...

Serial killer Bobby Joe Long is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Thursday at Florida State Prison in the 1984 murder of Michelle Simms in Hillsborough...

More than 100 inmates condemned to death could face a major upheaval, as a revamped Florida Supreme Court ponders whether to undo a 2016 ruling that...