Today the Florida Supreme Court resoundingly embraced the importance of the judgment of a jury under the Sixth Amendment in determining beyond a reasonable doubt whether a defendant is eligible for the death penalty in Florida. This determination must be based on deliberations in which twelve citizens of the state are instructed to consider the…
FADP Reaction to FL Supreme Court Ruling in Hurst v Florida and Perry v. Florida
FADP Statement on Today’s Florida Supreme Court Opinions on Hurst v. Florida and Perry v. Florida FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 14, 2016 CONTACT: Mark Elliott, FADP Director, (727) 215-9646, [email protected] Today, the Florida Supreme Court Released Opinions in Hurst v. Florida and Perry v. Florida. Responding to the opinions, Mark Elliott, executive director of…
Statement on Release of Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project Report on America’s Outlier Death Penalty Counties
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 12, 2016 CONTACT: Mark Elliott, FADP Director, (727) 215-9646, [email protected] TAMPA, FL– Today, Harvard Law School’s Fair Punishment Project released Part II of, Too Broken to Fix: An In-depth Look at America’s Outlier Death Penalty Counties, offering an in-depth look at how the death penalty is operating in the handful…
Dramatic Drop in Death Penalty Support
Pew Poll results show that support for the death penalty has fallen to less than 50% for the first time in almost 50 years. At the same time, use of the death penalty has dropped dramatically. Over two-thirds of U.S. states have either abolished the death penalty or have not used it in more than…
Sister Helen Prejean October Tour Cancelled
Sister Helen Prejean has cancelled plans for her October Florida tour due to the serious illness of her sister. Our prayers are with Sr. Helen and her sister, Mary Ann. The FADP Events page has been updated and new events listed.
Stunning!
Stunning Florida Election Results and Upcoming Events The controversial and widely-criticized State Attorney Angela Corey and Public Defender Matt Shirk were de-throned by voters in the Jacksonville area. State Attorney Jeff Ashton was tossed out by Orlando area voters. Read more here and here. These results are viewed in part as a rejection of the…
Coming – Sister Helen Prejean’s Florida Tour
FADP is co-sponsoring a statewide speaking tour by Sister Helen Prejean, who wrote “Dead Man Walking.” Sr. Helen is a passionate and incredibly moving speaker for ending executions. She has seven public events planned for October 14-17, 2016. Your help is urgently needed to help fund her tour and for materials and expenses for organizers…
Good News!
The Florida Supreme Court has now adjourned for summer recess. In their last week, the Court released no rulings on death penalty related cases and no rulings on death penalty issues raised by the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hurst v Florida that found Florida’s death penalty scheme unconstitutional (i.e., what are the impacts of…
Another judge rules Florida’s death penalty unconstitutional
A second Florida Circuit Court Judge has ruled Florida’s new death sentencing law to be unconstitutional under the Hurst decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Great timing with the Florida Supreme Court now deciding how to interpret the Hurst ruling and Florida’s new death sentencing statute. Read more here.
Miami Judge rules Florida’s death penalty law unconstitutional
Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch in Miami-Dade County has ruled that Florida’s new death penalty sentencing law violates the Florida Constitution; This adds more weight to the issues now before the Florida Supreme Court. Read a report here.