Capital punishment in Florida
Capital punishment is a legal penalty in the U.S. state of Florida. Since 1976, the state has executed 99 convicted murderers, all at Florida State Prison. As of July 8, 2021, 327 offenders are awaiting execution. History. Florida performed its last pre-"Furman" execution in 1964. After the Supreme Court of the United States struck down all states' death penalty procedures in "Furman v. Georgia" (1972), essentially ruling the imposition of the death penalty at the same time as a guilty verdict unconstitutional, Florida was the first state to draft a newly written statute on August 12 , 1972. After the Supreme Court permitted the death penalty once more in "Gregg v. Georgia" (1976), the state electrocuted John Arthur Spenkelink on May 25, 1979, which was the second execution in the U.S. since 1967, after that of Gary Gilmore on January 17, 1977, in Utah. Capital crimes. In Florida, murder can be punished by death if it involves one of the next aggravating factors: Florida statute also provides the death penalty for capital drug trafficking. A provision for capital sexual battery was found unconstitutional in the 2008 U.S. Supreme Court case "Kennedy v. Louisiana". No one is on  death row in the United States for drug trafficking. Legal process. Trial. In "Hurst v. Florida" (2014), the United States Supreme Court struck down part of Florida's death penalty law, holding it was not sufficient for a judge to determine the aggravating facts to be used in considering a death sentence. The court ruled that this trial process violated the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial under "Ring v. Arizona" (2002). This was later held to benefit only to defendants sentenced by a non-unanimous jury from 2002 to 2014. Sentencing. Since March 2017, when the prosecution pursues the  death penalty, the sentence is decided by the jury and must be unanimous. In case of a hung jury during the penalty phase of the trial, a life sentence is issued, even if a single juror opposed death (there is no retrial). Prior to 2014, the judge decided the sentence alone, and the jury gave only a non-binding advice. In March 2014, the Florida Legislature provided a 10-juror supermajority to issue a sentence of death. This was also challenged and in October 2014, the Florida Supreme Court struck down the law, finding that death sentences can only be  handed down by a unanimous jury. Appeals. On June 14, 2013, Governor Rick Scott signed the "Timely Justice Act of 2013". The law is designed to overhaul and speed up the process of capital punishment. It creates tighter time frames for a person sentenced to death to make appeals and post-conviction motions and imposes reporting requirements on case progress. Executions. Death sentence are carried by lethal injection. However, the sentence can be carried out by electrocution if the offender request it. If lethal injection or electrocution is held unconstitutional, statutes authorize the use of "any constitutional method of execution  instead. The only execution chamber in Florida is located at Florida State Prison in Starke. When sentenced, male convicts who receive the death penalty are incarcerated at either Florida State Prison itself, or at Union Correctional Institution next door to Florida State Prison, while female convicts who are sentenced to death are incarcerated at Lowell Correctional Institution north of Ocala. Inmates are moved to the death row at Florida State Prison when their death warrant is signed. Florida used public hanging under a local jurisdiction, overseen and performed by the sheriffs of the counties where the crimes took place. However	Capital punishment in Florida
22810689	, in 1923, the Florida Legislature passed a law replacing hanging with the electric chair and stated that all future execution will be performed under state jurisdiction inside prisons. The electric chair became a subject of strong controversy in the 1990s after three executions received considerable media attention and were labeled as botched" by opponents (Jesse Tafero in 1990, Pedro Medina in 1997, and Allen Lee Davis in 1999). While most states switched to the lethal injection, many politicians in Florida opposed giving up "Old Sparky", seeing it as a "deterrent". Finally, after the Davis execution, lethal injection was enabled as  the default method. Clemency. The Governor of Florida has the right to commute the death penalty, but only with positive recommendation of clemency from a Board, where they sit. Between 1925 and 1965, 57 commutations were granted out of 268 cases. Since 1972, when the death penalty was re-instituted, only six commutations have been granted, all under the administration of Governor Bob Graham.