TAMPA, Fla. — People in Florida can now be sent to death row with an 8-4 jury vote, instead of a unanimous requirement, after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law Thursday morning.
DeSantis pushed to reduce Florida’s death penalty threshold, citing the outcome of the Parkland school shooting case — the gunman who killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High was given a life sentence after only nine of the 12 jurors voted for death.
DeSantis signed the bill in a private ceremony in the Capitol alongside some of the family members of children killed in that shooting.
