Justice Stephen Breyer characterized the death penalty as cruel and unusual in light of the case of Henry Sireci, 68, who’s been on Florida’s Death Row for 40 years and has yet again been cleared for execution.
capital punishment
Revealed: Florida Stockpiling Lethal Injection Protocol Never Used Before, Inviting Litigation
The new triple-drug cocktail would be the only one of its kind among the states that rely on similar procedures to kill prisoners, including a drug never used to that end before.
Florida’s Death Penalty Law in Disarray, Supreme Court Throws Out Yet More Sentences
Signaling how it is likely to handle scores of Death Row cases, a majority of the Florida Supreme Court threw out death sentences and ordered a new penalty proceeding for a convicted triple-murderer.
In Saint Augustine, A Dead Priest Pleads for the Life of His Killer
Father Rene Robert, who was murdered, signed the Declaration of Life in 1995: it is wrong for the state to take the life of a convicted criminal, no matter how vile the crime, and no matter how innocent the victim.
Florida’s Death Penalty On Hold: Supreme Court Halts Trial Pending Legislative Change
The Florida Supreme Court on Friday stopped a Clearwater judge from proceeding with a death penalty case, signaling that courts might not be able to move forward with capital trials until the Legislature changes a law that justices earlier this month struck down as unconstitutional.
Florida Justices Overturn 42-Year-Old Death Sentence in “Black Revolutionary Army” Killing
Jacob John Dougan, Jr., now 69, was convicted in the 1974 murder of Stephen Orlando, an 18-year-old white man, whose body was found in Jacksonville Beach accompanied by a note signed by the “Black Revolutionary Army.”
Florida Supreme Court in Seminal Decision Rules Death Penalty Verdicts Must Be Unanimous
The court’s 5-2 decision, which will immediately affect 40 inmates and many of the 385 others on death row, ends Florida’s status as an outlier state where non-unanimous death penalty recommendations were allowed.
After Reaching Record Pace, Executions in Florida Are on Hold as Ruling Muddies Syringes
Executions are on hold, judges across the state are postponing death penalty cases, and defense lawyers are seeking additional reviews in the aftermath of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in January that struck down Florida’s death-penalty sentencing process.
Florida Continues to Suppress Lethal-Injection Records in Face of Challenge by Death Row Inmates
Lawyers for seven Death Row inmates and the First Amendment Coalition of Arizona in June filed a subpoena seeking years of records related to Florida’s triple-drug lethal injection protocol, including the types of drugs purchased, the strengths and amounts of the drugs, the expiration dates of the drugs and the names of suppliers.
Racism Allegations Against Jacksonville Judge Hulsey Enter Case of Black Man on Death Row
Other black defendants whose cases were overseen by Hulsey “are living with the fear that the proceedings were infected by racial prejudice,” but questions about Hulsey’s impartiality also affect “the public at large and all residents of Florida,” lawyer Martin McClain wrote.