Hurst v. Florida

Hurst v. Florida, 577 U.S. 92 (2016), is a landmark U.S. Supreme Court death-penalty decision concerning jury findings required for death eligibility.

Background

The case reached the Supreme Court through a capital prosecution and required the justices to define how constitutional protections apply when a state seeks or carries out a death sentence. It sits within the modern line of cases interpreting the Eighth Amendment and, where relevant, the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Supreme Court ruling

Florida’s capital sentencing scheme violated the Sixth Amendment because a judge, rather than the jury, made the critical findings necessary for death eligibility.

Why it matters

The decision became part of the operating constitutional framework for American capital punishment. Later courts, defense lawyers, prosecutors and corrections agencies have had to account for its rule when evaluating death eligibility, sentencing procedure or execution protocols.

Citation

577 U.S. 92 (2016) — decided 2016-01-12.

Sources

– U.S. Supreme Court — Hurst v. Florida, 577 U.S. 92 (2016) (opinion via Justia)