Argumentative Essay: Florida's Death Penalty System

Yesterday, Governor Rick Scott signed off on a law that will change the way Florida’s death penalty system works, correcting its flaws that were proved unconstitutional. Now, the law requires 10 out of 12 jurors to be in favor of an execution in order for an inmate to be sentenced to death.

In addition to that change, it is required in death penalty cases to have prosecutors provide reasons that can justify this action. Not only are prosecutors involved but also the jury is now required to unanimously agree on at least one reason with aggregating factors before attempting to send someone to be executed.

This law passing is a result of the Supreme Court’s decision that declared the Florida death sentencing system unconstitutional. Consequently,

No one is sure how the law will affect ongoing cases, or will affect cases that have already been delayed the past two weeks. The law passed by Gov. Scott focuses primarily on future cases to come.

State Attorney Jeff Ashton, expects the death penalty policy to continue once the issue of this statute is over.

“We are giving the legislature time to change the statute and, ultimately, we will evaluate what they say. There should not be any catastrophic change,” Ashton said.

Although Ashton does not think there will be changes, already two Florida death row inmate’s executions have been delayed because of this ruling.

Mark Asay has been convicted of two first-degree murder charges in 1987 and has been an inmate on death row since 1988. Asay’s planned execution date was March 17, 2016.

Inmates are costing taxpayers considerable amounts of tax dollars every day. According to the Florida Department of Corrections, the cost of living for a general inmate is $49.49 per day, totaling about $18,064 per year. In contrast, Death Penalty Focus shows that death row prisoners cost taxpayers $90,000 more per year than general

Jurors convicted Okafor of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and armed burglary. The verdict was announced on the day the murder victim, Alex Zaldivar, would have turned 22.

The Zaldivar family, including Alex’s older brother, a current student at the University of Central Florida, does not think Okafor's sentence will be changed.

“I think he will be affected by the ruling, we are in uncharted waters,” said Dean Mosley, Okafor’s attorney.

According to Mosley, the trial is in limbo. This means that both sides of the case have to wait to see how officials will interpret the law in regard to Okafor. No one is sure how long this process will take.

Mosley claims most people on death row have already exhausted their appeals. Therefore, they will be unable to take advantage of the possibility of their sentences changing.

“[Okafor is] hopeful that it will benefit him. In his position, I can’t imagine the stress on him. He has a glimmer of hope that he will be resentenced,” Mosley