MIAMI: Florida’s legislature on Thursday increased the number of jurors needed to sentence a prisoner to death, after the US Supreme Court overturned an earlier capital punishment law in the southeastern state.
Under the new system approved by Florida’s senate by a vote of 35 to five, at least 10 members of a 12-person jury panel must agree to sentence a defendant to death.
Previously, capital punishment could be decided by a simple majority of jurors, or a vote of at least seven jurors in favor.
However, a judge had the last word on whether to impose a death penalty sentence in Florida, meaning the jury’s role was essentially advisory.
The US Supreme Court annulled the old system in January, ruling that it violated a constitutional requirement that the death sentence be imposed only by an impartial jury, not by a judge.
While the Florida legislature was working on the new law, the state’s Supreme Court suspended two executions, one set for February and one for March.
