Entries tagged with “Melanie Kalmanson”
Jun 03, 2024
Amicus Briefs Submitted to Florida Supreme Court Describe Non-Unanimous Sentencing Law as a “Quintessential Game of Chance”
In April 2023, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation that lowered the threshold for juries to recommend death sentences from a unanimous vote to a vote of 8 – 4 in favor of death, and experts allege this law has resulted in a “quintessential game of chance” for those awaiting capital resentencing or trial. An amicus brief, or friend-of-the-court brief, submitted to the Florida Supreme Court argues that this change to the state’s death penalty process violates capital defendants’…
Policy Issues
Arbitrariness
,Sentencing Alternatives
,Jan 03, 2024
Overwhelming Percentage of Florida’s Hurst Resentencing Hearings End in Life Sentences
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 sentencing hearings. Of the 157 cases DPIC previously identified as…