Angry that there aren't enough executions in Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is angling to change the law so that death penalties in his state no longer require a unanimous jury.
"You can't just say one person votes 'no,' and therefore the death penalty is not given!" the frustrated fascist said to the Florida Sheriffs Association on Monday, using Parkland shooter Nikolas Cruz's life-in-prison-without-parole sentence as his example of the court system being too lax (see video below).
"I do think there are people who get on these juries who never intend to administer capital punishment," he griped about the system, in which jury members are vetted and hand-picked by lawyers on both sides of the case.
And the solution? "Have a super majority…" As in only "maybe 8 out of 12 have to agree, or something," he suggested. He wasn't clear on what that alternative "something" might be.
DeSantis was comforted by the fact that "this can probably be changed by statute."
From The Guardian:
Florida has required jury unanimity in capital cases since 2017, a change made after the US supreme court rendered unconstitutional the state system of allowing a simple majority of a jury to recommend death and a judge then deciding whether to impose it.
Inmates sentenced to death in Florida are allowed to choose electrocution or lethal injection. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 30 prisoners have been exonerated while on death row in Florida – more than in any other US state.
