ACLU Comment on the Supreme Court’s Decision on Capital Punishment in Florida

Affiliate: ACLU of Florida
January 12, 2016 11:45 am

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NEW YORK – The Supreme Court today ruled 8-1 in Hurst v. Florida that the state’s system of determining who receives the death penalty is unconstitutional. In Florida, judges, not juries, were deciding whether to impose capital punishment.

Cassandra Stubbs, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Capital Punishment Project, had this comment:

“By striking down Florida’s capital punishment scheme, the Supreme Court restored the central role of the jury in imposing the death penalty. Juries across the country have become increasingly reluctant to vote in favor of death. The court’s ruling thus represents another step on the inevitable road toward ending the death penalty.”

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