Today's Orlando Sentinel carries the editorial, "Don't blame Florida Supreme Court for the backlog of inmates on state's death row."
When the Florida Supreme Court delayed a condemned cop killer's execution this week, it seemed to bolster an argument heard in the state Capitol this year that the justices are to blame for a pileup of prisoners on death row.
But the evidence doesn't support that argument. And state House Speaker Dean Cannon's plan to radically restructure the high court to speed up its handling of death-penalty cases remains unjustified and unworthy of revisiting.
And:
Earlier this year, state House Republican leaders pointed to the backlog of inmates on death row in calling for the seven-member Supreme Court to be expanded by three justices, then split into five-member criminal and civil divisions. The House Office of Public Information cited "current processing delays created by the existing Supreme Court structure."
Lawyers might call this a specious argument. We'd call it bunk.
Valle's death warrant, signed earlier this month, was the first from Gov. Rick Scott since he took office in January. Because Scott's predecessors also signed warrants infrequently, there are at least 45 inmates on Florida's death row awaiting executive execution orders.
Inmates don't reach that point until their federal court appeals are exhausted. The state Supreme Court has no control over that process, which often takes years.
But Cannon's plan to split the high court would have let Scott pack it with three new appointees. It would have concentrated justices named by Republican governors in the civil division, turning it into a more-friendly venue to rule on the GOP-led Legislature's actions. The speaker unveiled his plan after the court struck from the ballot three proposed constitutional amendments from legislators.
And there are other legal issues clouding capital punishment in Florida besides what drug is administered to execute prisoners. Last month a federal judge in Miami ruled that the state's method of imposing the death penalty is unconstitutional, because juries can recommend it without specifying a reason.
The Fort Myers News-Press has the editorial, "Fix death penalty in Florida."
The latest delay in the execution of Manuel Valle for killing a police officer 33 years ago shows how absurd the administration of the death penalty in Florida has become.
That's not to say the death penalty should be abolished; we think it still has merit. But years of delays in carrying out executions while the death row population mounts make a mockery of justice.
A meaningful limit should be placed on how long execution can be delayed unless significant new issues are raised.
But that has to be accompanied by a review of the whole death penalty process, as recommended by the American Bar Association. Florida, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, has exonerated more death row inmates than any other state since 1973. This year's mistaken abolition of the state Commission on Capital Cases, which was charged with reviewing the system and recommending reforms, didn't help.
If the state can't fix this system, the death penalty should be abolished.
Earlier coverage from Florida begins at the link.
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