11 July 2017 :

The full impact of a historic U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Florida's death penalty system is finally emerging as the state's death row population is smaller than it was more than a decade ago, and will keep shrinking for a long time. Florida's death row population now stands at 362, according to the Department of Corrections' website. That's the lowest number since 2004; only a year ago, the population was 389. Florida has not executed a death row inmate in 18 months. No inmates haves been sent to death row in more than a year, a sign that prosecutors are not trying as many first-degree murder cases because of uncertainties in the sentencing system. "There is no reason to sign a death warrant if you know it's going to get delayed," said State Attorney Bernie McCabe, the top prosecutor in Pinellas and Pasco counties. Many more cells on death row are certain to be emptied as the Florida Supreme Court continues to vacate death sentences because they violate a 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Hurst vs. Florida. The case struck down the state's death penalty sentencing system because it limited jurors to an advisory role, a violation of the Sixth Amendment right to a trial by jury.