Entries tagged with “Maria DeLiberato”

Research

May 17, 2024

Tennessee Authorizes Death Penalty for Child Sexual Assault in Direct Challenge to Supreme Court Precedent

On May 9, Governor Bill Lee of Tennessee signed a bill autho­riz­ing the death penal­ty for aggra­vat­ed rape of a child, fol­low­ing Florida’s pas­sage of a sim­i­lar law last year. Both laws con­tra­dict long­stand­ing Supreme Court prece­dent hold­ing the death penal­ty uncon­sti­tu­tion­al for non-homi­­cide crimes. Tennessee’s law takes effect on July 1. The state has had a death penal­ty mora­to­ri­um in place since May 2022 after Governor Lee learned that state offi­cials had failed to…

Issues

Jan 03, 2024

Overwhelming Percentage of Florida’s Hurst Resentencing Hearings End in Life Sentences

#### New Non-Unanimity Law Creates Chaos in Remaining Cases According to new research by the Death Penalty Information Center, 82% of Florida death-sen­­tenced pris­on­ers who com­plet­ed new sen­tenc­ing pro­ceed­ings under *Hurst v. Florida* (2016) have been resen­tenced to life in prison with­out parole. *Hurst* found Florida’s death penal­ty scheme uncon­sti­tu­tion­al, and the Florida Supreme Court sub­se­quent­ly held that new death sen­tences must be unan­i­mous, necessitating new…