Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signaled an interest in making it easier for juries to hand down the death penalty. Florida lawmakers have responded with state legislation to make it happen. Currently, juries in Florida must unanimously recommend capital punishment, but House Bill 555 and Senate Bill 450 would lower the threshold to just eight out of 12 jurors. This would be a troubling development for justice in Florida.
In his recent remarks at the Florida Sheriffs Association’s Winter Conference, the governor commented on the trial of the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting perpetrator. He said that the mass murderer’s conviction
