A former Republican lawmaker is accusing attorney general candidate Preston W. Smith of twice thwarting his effort to pass a law that would allow judges to order a death sentence after a jury is unable to reach a unanimous sentence.
Smith, a Republican who touts his conservative credentials, responds that the bill was written poorly and would have had the unintended consequence of encouraging appeals that might actually have made it harder to impose the death penalty. Two Southern states, Alabama and Florida, have laws that allow the death penalty to be imposed without a unanimous vote of a jury. Alabama’s statute was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1995.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law are third party online distributors of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM's legal news publications. LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law customers are able to access and use ALM's content, including content from the National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, Legaltech News, The New York Law Journal, and Corporate Counsel, as well as other sources of legal information.
For questions call 1-877-256-2472 or contact us at [email protected]