Georgia Rep. Barry Fleming wants to eliminate the requirement for unanimous jury agreement on the death penalty.
Given that we are less than one week from a man's release after being held 22 years for a rape he did not commit, is this really the time to start dicking around with the surety of the one punishment where there is no opportunity for a do-over?
Monday, January 29, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Has the Supreme Court ever ruled on the issue of whether a non-unanimous conviction in a death case is constitutional? I am trying to research this but not finding anything, though that may be because only Florida currently allows non-unanimous convictions in death cases. Will keep looking, but since I know other legal know it alls (Richard) will probably have the answer before I find it, I figured I'd throw it out there.
OK it appears the court has never ruled on the issue of unanimous jury recommendations of death, but has strongly suggested states should require unanimity. (I should've said unanimous sentencing, not convictions, above. Oops.)
Post a Comment