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Judicial term limits, death penalty bills clear final House committee votes

in Statewide by

Bills that would require unanimous jury votes to impose the death penalty, and ask voters whether to impose term limits on appellate judges, were headed to the House floor following their approval Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee. The death penalty bill attracted a single “no” vote, and that was from Democrat Joe Geller, who said he would never again support any proposal that would “keep the horror of a death penalty.” The judicial term limits bill passed on a vote of 11-8.…

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Florida prosecutors can seek death penalty despite questions

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Florida prosecutors can seek the death penalty in ongoing cases despite a state Supreme Court ruling that found a new death penalty law unconstitutional. The court ruled Monday that the death penalty can be applied as long as there is a unanimous jury recommendation. The court ruled last October that a new state law requiring at least a 10-2 jury recommendation is unconstitutional. But Monday it said other aspects of the law are constitutional and prosecutors can proceed in capital…

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Pam Bondi goes to Nevada

Drawing on lessons learned after a nightclub massacre last year in Orlando, Attorney General Pam Bondi and members of her

Politicians can learn lesson from LeRoy Collins’ balance of public, private speech

in 2017 by

Thanks to Vladimir Putin‘s hackers and his outlets in the American press, we know that Hillary Clinton said different things in public and in private. Imagine that. But I suspect that you couldn’t find very many politicians (or other people, for that matter) who don’t speak differently depending on who’s listening. Money could safely be wagered that what legislators say to their spouses about guns, abortion and the death penalty does not necessarily reflect how they vote. Some politicians are…

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After Asay decision, anti-death penalty advocates call for commutations

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The state’s leading death penalty opposition group is calling for more than 200 Florida death row inmates to have their sentences reduced to life imprisonment. Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty (FADP) says a Florida Supreme Court decision on convicted killer Mark Asay out Thursday means that many are “entitled to be resentenced.” The court determined that this year’s U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Hurst v. Florida, requiring Florida juries—not judges—”to (determine) the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death”…

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Florida’s death penalty, a never-ending fight between state, opponents

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Convicted murderer Ronald B. Smith reportedly coughed and heaved for 13 minutes Thursday night as the state of Alabama carried out its execution of the condemned murderer. What does this have to do with Florida? Maybe plenty. Florida has applied the death penalty with enthusiasm since it was reinstated here in 1976. The state has executed 92 individuals, trailing only Texas, Oklahoma and Virginia. There are 384 people currently are on death row and awaiting their turn on the lethal…

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In Saint Augustine, a dead priest pleads for the life of his killer

in Statewide/Top Headlines by

The death penalty used to be a big story in Florida. Print and broadcast executives gave sustained and thoughtful consideration to coverage decisions. The moral, religious, public safety, and financial dimensions of this irrevocable punishment are vast, and cry out for quality journalism. For years after Gov. Bob Graham signed John Spenkelink‘s death warrant, the beat was a magnet for the most ambitious reporters, editors, and editorial writers in the golden age of journalism. The story is as vast as it ever…

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Florida man’s death sentences in 5 killings upheld by court

in Statewide by

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the death sentences imposed on a man convicted of five murders in two separate 2007 robberies, including one in which two women were set on fire. The justices upheld the convictions and sentences imposed on 38-year-old Leon Davis Jr., who committed the killings just days apart in December 2007. He was convicted of killing the women – one of whom was pregnant – in the fiery robbery of a Lake Wales insurance office…

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