04 April 2023 :

(March 30, 2023) - Senate OKs easier path to imposing death penalty
The Florida Senate on Thursday passed a bill (SB 450) repealing a law requiring a unanimous jury recommendation for the death penalty, a reaction to the life sentence handed to the man who massacred 17 people at a Parkland high school.
The bill passed on a 29-10 vote and will allow the death penalty with a jury recommendation of at least 8-4 in favor of execution. The House version of the bill (HB 555) is awaiting its 3rd committee hearing.
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis supports the proposal.
The bill was proposed after a divided 9-3 jury spared Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz in November from capital punishment for killing 17 at the school in 2018. The Parkland school shooter instead received a life sentence.
Only 3 states out of the 27 that impose the death penalty do not require unanimity. Alabama allows a 10-2 decision, and Missouri and Indiana let a judge decide when there is a divided jury.
For decades, Florida had not required unanimity in capital punishment, allowing a judge to impose capital punishment as long as a majority of jurors were in favor of the penalty. But the U.S. Supreme Court threw out state law in 2016, saying it allowed judges too much discretion.
The state Legislature then passed a bill requiring a 10-2 jury recommendation, but the state Supreme Court said such recommendations should be unanimous, prompting lawmakers in 2017 to require a unanimous jury.
Three years later, the state Supreme Court, with new conservative jurists appointed by DeSantis, rescinded its earlier decision and ruled that a death recommendation does not need to be unanimous. Florida's unanimity standard has remained untouched until now.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-senate-easier-death-penalty-imposition/