In a huge victory for anti-death penalty advocates, the Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that everyone on death row in the state will be re-sentenced to life without parole. The ruling stems from their August decision which found the death penalty law was unconstitutional. That 148-page decision followed the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Hurst v. Florida earlier this year, which stated that a jury, rather than a judge, must make the factual determinations that allow a jury to recommend a death sentence.
According to the court's decision today, that previous decision was a "watershed procedural ruling" and should apply to those currently on death row. The state legislature could still rewrite the death penalty law to make it constitutional. But even if they were to reinstate the law, those twelve inmates will not be put back on death row. As it was covered in August, it is highly unlikely that the legislature will reinstate the law:
While the statute could be rewritten to comport with the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling, its unlikely that the Delaware General Assembly will decide to do so. The state has repeatedly come close to overruling the death penalty, and just last year the Delaware Senate passed a bill that would get rid of the death penalty and replace it with life without parole. It was the second time in three years that the state Senate passed such a bill and had support from the governor. However, the bill narrowly failed in the House.
But even though the state was unable to pass the bill outlawing the death penalty, it is even more unlikely that they will have the political momentum to pass a bill reinstating the punishment. The chance of the General Assembly passing a bill amending the statute to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court and therefore reinstate the punishment is slim to none.
The ruling in Hurst v. Florida required Delaware, Florida, and Alabama to review their death penalty statutes. The state Supreme Courts in Florida and Delaware ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court decision effectively invalidated their state death penalty statutes. (As was reported last week, Florida’s Attorney General Pam Bondi has appealed the Florida Supreme Court’s ruling.) Alabama's Supreme Court, however, decided that their death penalty statute did not conflict with the SCOTUS ruling.
Last week, Alabama executed Ronald Smith. He took 34 minutes to die, required two consciousness checks, and was actively gasping, heaving, and coughing for at least 13 minutes of the process.