Tag Archives: death penalty

Governor Rick Scott is taking away 21 more first-degree murder cases from a prosecutor who has said she will no longer seek the death penalty.

More than 100 people rode buses to Tallahassee from throughout the state to take part in a rally to back an embattled Central Florida state attorney.

A newly elected prosecutor said she would not seek the death penalty in capital cases on Thursday, but Florida's other 20 state attorneys said they intend to pursue death sentences when appropriate.

Former death row inmate Herman Lindsey testified on Feb. 22 before the legislature in hopes of raising awareness about changes to the death penalty bill. However, the bill still passed the Florida Legislature and was signed by Gov. Scott on Monday.

In response to a series of court rulings set off by the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hurst v. Florida in January 2016, Gov. Rick Scott signed a law Monday aimed at fixing flaws in the state's capital sentencing procedure.

The Florida Supreme Court on Monday ordered that death penalty cases can proceed, even with an unconstitutional law, which requires only 10 members of the 12-person jury to recommend the death penalty, still on the books.

Florida juries would have to unanimously agree that defendants should be condemned to death for the sentence to be imposed, under a proposal given swift and overwhelming approval at its first Senate committee Monday