[darkangel82]

That’s going to cause a mess for 350 or so cases in FL. But the court appears to have ruled correctly.

[Red Badger]

Yes, it will be a mess, but juries I would think would be much more likely to hand down harsher sentences than the possibility of liberal judges giving life sentences..................

[rollo tomasi]

Funny how most of the activists (Alito was consistent in this case due to his nature in favoring law enforcement) on the court took a strict interpretation of the 6th Amendment. The enumeration/penumbra/yada, yada, yada...would conclude a jury did rule and recommended the death as a penalty, lol. Thus, activism is just a begrudging bias against the Constitution.

[Vigilanteman]

What would prevent the legislature from passing a law simply selecting a random 7 of the original 12 jurors to convene at the original court house of conviction and have the convict and his lawyer attend by closed circuit to present their case on why the conviction should be commuted to life imprisonment or whatever? Or if the original death penalty should be upheld?

It should take an afternoon, tops.

Or just put the convicts in with the general prison population and pass the word that any "accidental" shankings won't get more than a cameo investigation.

[henkster]

While the jury has to make all the factual findings to support a death penalty, this has been integral in Supreme Court rulings for many years.

Why did it take so long to raise the issue regarding Florida’s statute?