TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The number of criminals sentenced to death in Florida has been steadily declining in recent years, reaching an all-time low in 2016 and 2017.
The requirement of a unanimous jury conviction is likely playing a major role in the decrease, experts said.
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In 2016 and 2017 combined, only six people were sent to death row, which is far fewer people than any single year since the death penalty was reinstated nearly 50 years ago.
“The process was on hold until the Legislature got it right,” said Mark Schlakman, a human rights attorney.
Florida halted executions in January 2016 after the U.S. Supreme Court said the state’s sentencing process was unconstitutional. The substantial drop is due to not only uncertainty, but the requirement that juries must be unanimous.
Nationally, death sentences have dropped dramatically: down 90 percent in the past 20 years.
“We're cautiously optimistic that the higher standard is going to continue to contribute to (a) lower number of death sentences,” said Ingrid Delgado, of the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. “In general, we support an end to the use of the death penalty, as society can be kept safe with alternatives like life without parole.”
Delgado said Floridians’ attitudes toward the death penalty are also changing.
“Recent public polling does show that the majority of Florida voters support alternatives to death sentences,” she said.
Experts said the trend toward fewer death sentences isn’t likely to continue.
“It would not be unreasonable to anticipate that the numbers may increase again, since the Legislature has (finally) responded to the U.S. Supreme Court,” Schlakman said.
Already in 2018, one person was sentenced to death: 25-year-old Benjamin Smiley for a 2013 murder in Polk County. There are currently 347 inmates on death row. Ninety-six people have been put to death in Florida since executions resumed in 1979.