It’s a contentious issue that has dominated political debates about criminal justice over the past year.
Florida requires a jury to be unanimous in its decision to sentence a prisoner to death. Should the state reverse its position on unanimity and allow an 8-4 majority to rule? Should the state continue to use the death penalty or scrap it altogether?
A total of 96 Hillsborough County high school students responded as part of the annual RF “Red” Pittman Tribune Scholars Program, named for a former Tampa Tribune newspaper editor and now sponsored by the Tampa Bay Times.
Only those in the top 3% of their class were asked to write a 250-word essay in response to the question.
This year’s judges were Stephen Lambert, professor of English and director of the quality improvement plan at Hillsborough Community College; Yuly Restrepo, assistant professor of English at the University of Tampa; and Jim Verhulst, assistant editorial editor for the Tampa Bay Times.
Each winner received a $1,300 scholarship. The winners were Kaylee Greelish, Sickles High School; Kaylee Matteis, Newsome High School; and Alexsandra Wilkes, Gaither High School.
Kaylee Greelish [ Special to the Times ]
Kaylee Greelish, Sickles High School
Kaylee plans to attend Burnett Honors College at the University of Central Florida to study engineering.
Florida should not reverse its position on unanimity regarding the death penalty. The first state to reinstate the death penalty since Furman v. Georgia in 1972, Florida has overstepped its bounds, violating multiple constitutional amendments and even executing minors. Additionally, the US Supreme Court has ruled Florida’s death penalty practices unconstitutional numerous times. Before 2017, only a majority vote was required to impose the death penalty; Case histories show that if a unanimous vote is not required, juries do not take time to thoroughly deliberate on a verdict. Additionally, Florida leads the nation in death row exonerations. By abolishing the unanimity requirement, more innocent people can be convicted. All 12 jurors should agree to impose the death penalty to protect potentially innocent people and ensure that more sentences are constitutional.
Death penalty cases are much more complex, lengthy and expensive than other legal cases. In Florida, some of the more complicated trials can cost taxpayers $41 million, roughly 80 times more than a life sentence without parole. This takes funds from organizations that work to address the underlying causes of violence, creating a downward spiral in society. Furthermore, research indicates that there is no evidence of a deterrent effect linked to the death penalty law. In an analysis of 2020 homicide data, the Death Penalty Information Center found that states with the death penalty had significantly higher homicide rates than states without it. The death penalty should be abolished altogether, as it is expensive and may not be an effective deterrent.
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Explore all your optionsKaylee Matteis [ Special to the Times ]
Kaylee Matteis, Newsome High School
Kaylee plans to attend Duke University to study economics.
Carlos de Luna. Ruben Cantu. Troy Davis. These names are among the many that Lady Justice has failed miserably at. At the cost of decades on death row and the ultimate sacrifice of their own lives, current research suggests these men may never have committed the crimes for which they were executed. Even if their names were erased, to quote the novelist Mary E. Pearson, “Truth that came too late was as useful as a meal to a dead man.”
Since 1973, the Death Penalty Information Center reports that 190 death row inmates have been exonerated of their crimes. Florida has the highest number of any state, with a whopping 30 wrongfully accused people who have been found not guilty after serving time on death row. Even more horrific to consider is the multitude of individuals whose true stories followed them to the grave, remaining undiscovered for eternity. And for a country that prides itself on “establishing justice” in the preamble to its Constitution, America has a long way to go before it can truly practice what it preaches.
This shocking statistic shows that Florida should reevaluate its procedures regarding the death penalty. Certainly, the idea of revoking the current restrictions on this punishment in the Sunshine State laughs in the face of those wrongfully accused and killed. Until Florida’s justice system can more accurately distinguish the innocent from the guilty, it might be better to pay the death penalty with what it has wrongly given others: capital punishment.
Alexandra Wilkes [ Special to the Times ]
Alexsandra Wilkes, Gaither High School
Alexsandra plans to attend the University of South Florida and major in Health Sciences with the goal of becoming a pediatrician.
Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer, once said, “The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, ‘Do we deserve to be killed?'” The state should not abandon its commitment to unanimous decision-making and allow an 8-4 majority to take control.The purpose of the legal system is to ensure that justice is done, and to ensure unanimity in cases involving the death penalty is crucial to achieving that goal. This is not a popcorn or slurpee decision; we are talking about life and death here. Although I am not yet old enough to serve on a jury, I can’t imagine the pressure of being on a jury that decides one’s own fate. As the American Psychological Association stated, jurors were more confident that their verdict decision was the right one and are convinced that their decision he was doing justice. These decisions are not easy to make. If the decision was not unanimous, would they question whether there was anything more they could do to convince others to save someone’s life? Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Returning violence for violence’s sake multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to an already starless night.” Without further bloodshed, we can remember the victims.
