The US Supreme Court has ruled that Florida’s judicial process for determining whether an offender should be given the death penalty is unconstitutional, after a judge was found to have intervened in the sentencing of a man convicted of murder.
According to CNN, Timothy Lee Hurst, 37, was convicted of murdering his co-worker Cynthia Harrison in 1998; she had been stabbed more than 60 times. The jury found him guilty and recommended a death sentence, but the judge held a separate hearing where he reviewed the facts of the case and came to the same conclusion.
The convict, Mr Hurst, filed a challenge with the high court, which returned the verdict that the judicial process had been unconstitutional.
In an 8-1 verdict the court ruled: “The Sixth Amendment requires a jury, not a judge, to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death. A jury's recommendation is not enough."
Legislators and state officials in Florida are now scrambling to figure out how the ruling will affect current death warrants, upcoming trials, and past sentences, although according to the New York Times, a 2004 Supreme Court decision indicated that, at least in federal court, rulings like this would not apply retroactively to inmates whose convictions are final.
The Catholic bishops in the US have been vocal in their opposition to the death penalty, which is currently permitted in 31 states. In a press statement responding to the Supreme Court ruling on Hurst v Florida, Florida’s bishops reiterated their position that “life imprisonment without parole is an alternative that keeps society safe and renders the death penalty unnecessary”.
Pope Francis called for an end to the death penalty when he addressed a joint meeting of Congress in September, and earlier this week, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn said the Pope was keeping a watching brief on Richard Masterson, due to be executed this week.
There are currently 400 inmates on death row in Florida, which is over 10 per cent of the total number of convicts awaiting execution in the US.
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