Entries tagged with “Michael James Jackson”

Jan 12, 2026

Marking a Decade Since Hurst v. Florida

Today is the ten-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hurst v. Florida. Heralded as a watershed ruling for capital defendants, Hurst reaffirmed the principle that the jury alone must find the facts necessary to condemn a person to die — implicating the death sentences of hundreds of prisoners across three states. The Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury…

Dec 16, 2024

Florida Supreme Court Hears Oral Arguments Challenging Non-Unanimity Sentencing Standard

On December 12, 2024, the Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case of Michael James Jackson, who is challenging the constitutionality of Florida’s 2023 law that allows for non-unanimous jury death sentences. Mr. Jackson is represented by the ACLU, who argued that the Florida law is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Ramos v. Louisiana, which struck down non-unanimous criminal convictions. According to the ACLU’s brief, Florida’s law has the same negative…

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’ rights…

Issues

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 Hurst-eligible — anyone…

Issues

Dec 01, 2020

Florida Supreme Court Limits Retroactive Scope of Its Ruling Permitting Death Sentences After Non-Unanimous Jury Votes

In two long-awaited decisions that will alter the landscape of Florida’s death row, the Florida Supreme Court has limited the reach of a landmark ruling that overturned the state’s constitutional prohibition against death sentences imposed after a non-unanimous jury vote for death. The court’s January 2020 decision in State v. Poole had raised the specter that the court might rescind orders that had overturned the death sentences of more than 100 Florida death-row prisoners and granted them new…