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USA - Florida. Nonunanimous death penalty verdicts upheld by Supreme Court

January 5, 2026:

January 5, 2026 - Florida. Nonunanimous death penalty verdicts upheld by Florida Supreme Court

The Florida Supreme Court has upheld the legality of allowing death penalty verdicts by nonunanimous juries.

In a Dec. 18 decision, the Florida Supreme Court affirmed the legality of a 2023 statute permitting judges to impose capital punishment even if juries are not unanimous in their verdicts, according to Legal Newsline. Only 2 states, Florida and Alabama, allow courts to impose capital punishment when juries return nonunanimous recommendations in favor of a death sentence, according to Legal Newsline.

For decades, Florida had not required unanimity in capital punishment, allowing a judge to impose the death penalty as long as a majority of jurors were in favor of the penalty. But in 2016 the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the state’s system, saying it allowed judges too much discretion.

The state Legislature then passed a bill requiring a 10-2 jury recommendation, but the state Supreme Court at the time said such recommendations should be unanimous, prompting lawmakers in 2017 to require a unanimous jury.

Three years later, the state Supreme Court, with new conservative jurists appointed by DeSantis, rescinded its earlier decision and ruled that a death recommendation does not need to be unanimous.

In recent years, the state has also expanded which offenses can warrant the death penalty to include child rape convictions, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned capital punishment in such cases.

In the decision released on Dec. 18, the court affirmed a 2023 law that ended a unanimous jury requirement in death penalty sentencing, rejecting arguments by death row inmates Michael Hunt and Michael Jackson that their sentences are unconstitutional.

https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/florida-supreme-court-upholds-non-unanimous-death-penalty-verdicts