Copy Link Share Comment This piece was originally published on State Court Report, a hub for reporting, analysis, and commentary about state courts and constitutions. State Court Report is a project of the Brennan Center for Justice.

Last month, the Florida Supreme Court upheld a law that permits people to be sentenced to death with the votes of only 8 of 12 jurors.

Florida has a history of permitting non-unanimous juries to recommend death, but a 2016 state Supreme Court decision halted that practice. After several new justices joined the court, however, it reversed course, and the state Legislature passed the current non-unanimity law in 2023.

The state’s standard allowing one-third of the jury to vote against the death penalty is the lowest threshold in the nation. Alabama is the only other state that permits non-unanimous death recommendations, but at least 10 jurors must concur in the recommendation there.

Attorneys for the defendant have indicated they will seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the state high court’s decision. The U.S. Supreme Court held in 2020 that a jury must be unanimous in declaring a defendant guilty, but has never weighed in on the constitutionality of a non-unanimous verdict at the penalty phase of a capital case.

The Florida Supreme Court’s decision in Jackson v. Florida came at the end of a year in which Florida was a national outlier, executing 19 people, nearly four times the number in any other state. The number of individuals with death warrants in Florida, about 250, is second only to California, which has not executed anyone in 20........

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