TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The ACLU of Florida sharply condemned the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a non-unanimous jury standard for imposing the death penalty, warning that the ruling threatens constitutional protections and increases the risk of wrongful convictions.
The ACLU of Florida released a press statement criticizing the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to uphold a non-unanimous jury to sentence people to death.
The new Florida law allows a jury of an 8-4 vote to sentence people to death.
According to the ACLU, the Florida Supreme Court upheld the law in Jackson v. Florida and Hunt v. Florida, brought by two men sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury.
According to the ACLU of Florida, in Jackson v. Florida, the accused was convicted and sentenced to death for a “double murder, alongside three co-defendants.”
In 2016, the Florida Supreme Court deemed the unanimous jury sentencing unconstitutional, and the Florida Legislature changed the law to require unanimity for death sentences.
However, as the accused was waiting for resentencing, the Florida Supreme Court reversed its earlier decision, upholding a non-unanimous jury and leaving the accused back on death row.
In Hunt v. Florida, the accused was arrested and charged with capital murder in 2018, when Florida still required a unanimous jury for the death penalty.
However, the trial was delayed until 2023, after Florida changed the law.
The jury convicted the accused unanimously, but only 10 people voted for a death sentence, reports the ACLU.
“Allowing a death sentence by a divided jury betrays the founders’ vision of the jury as a cornerstone of democracy and a protection against government overreach,” stated Megan Byrne, senior staff attorney at the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project, highlighting the unusual nature of Florida’s non-unanimous death sentence juries.
“Non-unanimous juries increase the risk of wrongful convictions and can operate to silence the voices of jurors of color. Florida’s high court has made clear that the state values speed and finality over accuracy and justice. We will be asking the Supreme Court to review this decision and reaffirm that the Constitution provides the right to a fair trial and a unanimous jury when life is at stake.”
As the ACLU pointed out, Florida is one of only two states that allow a non-unanimous jury to sentence individuals to death, and it permits the lowest threshold.
According to an article in the University of Miami Law Review, Alabama allows a 10-2 split jury to sentence a person to death.
In a Supreme Court case, Ramos v. Louisiana, the Court acknowledged that historically, allowing a 10-2 jury in death sentencing was an attempt “to ensure that African-American juror service would be meaningless.”
In addition, the ACLU pointed out that most of the individuals exonerated from the death penalty were sentenced to death by a non-unanimous jury.
According to Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, out of the 30 death row exonerees, “nearly all” were either sentenced by a non-unanimous jury or a judge overriding the jury’s decision.
Florida has one of the highest total numbers of executions and execution rates among all U.S. states, as another man was scheduled to be executed, marking the state’s 19th execution in 2025.
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