Florida to Require 8 Jurors, Not all 12, to Impose a Death Sentence

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers questions from the media in the Florida Cabinet following his State of the State address during a joint session of the Senate and House of Representatives, at the Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla., on March 7, 2023. Cheney Orr/AFP via Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to sign into law a bill that would no longer require a jury to vote unanimously to condemn an offender to death.

The bill, SB 450, was drafted last year in the wake of Nikolas Cruz receiving life in prison for killing 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in February 2018. A jury did not unanimously recommend the death penalty, allowing Cruz to serve 34 consecutive life sentences despite the majority of the victim’s families asking for his death.