Category Archives: Death penalty
Supreme Court Strikes Down Florida’s Death Penalty “IQ Standard”
As devised by the United States Constitution, punishment must be determined based on the manner and degree of the crime committed. It is important that what a defendant is ultimately sentenced to fits the offense committed. The basic tenets of the Eighth Amendment’s “cruel and unusual punishment” prohibition is on the forefront of lawmakers… Read More »
The Right to a Spencer Hearing in Florida Death Penalty Cases
The most serious sentence any criminal defendant can face is, of course, the death penalty — and that’s what seems most likely to happen to Randy Tundidor, the man who, according to the Fort Lauderdale Sun–Sentinel, murdered his landlord, a Nova Southeastern University professor. Tundidor’s attorneys have twice tried to appeal the death sentence by having the judge, the Honorable Cynthia… Read More »
The Supreme Court’s Death Penalty Decision in Hall v. Florida
On Tuesday of this week, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a decision in Hall v. Florida, the case concerning the constitutionality of Florida’s policy for determining when a person is ineligible for the death penalty by reason of intellectual disability. Since the early 2000s, Florida’s policy had been that anyone who scored above a 70 on… Read More »