Hurst v. Florida (577 U.S. 92)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided January 12, 2016 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 577 U.S. 92 · 136 S. Ct. 616
- Docket
- No. 14-7505
- Argued
- October 13, 2015
- Decided
- January 12, 2016
- Term
- October Term 2015
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice Sotomayor
- Issue area
- Criminal Procedure
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
- Constitutional ruling
- State/territorial law held unconstitutional
- Precedent
- This decision overruled or formally altered earlier precedent
How the Justices voted
- Majority
- Chief Justice Roberts, Justice Scalia, Justice Kennedy, Justice Thomas, Justice Ginsburg, Justice Sotomayor (wrote), Justice Kagan
- Concurring in the judgment
- Justice Breyer (wrote)
- Dissenting
- Justice Alito (wrote)
Oral argument transcript and advocates · Opinion on Justia
Opinion excerpt
(Slip Opinion) OCTOBER TERM, 2015 1 Syllabus NOTE: Where it is feasible, a syllabus (headnote) will be released, as is being done in connection with this case, at the time the opinion is issued. The syllabus constitutes no part of the opinion of the Court but has been prepared by the Reporter of Decisions for the convenience of the reader. See United States v. Detroit Timber & Lumber Co., 200 U.S. 321 , 337. SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES Syllabus HURST v. FLORIDA CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA No. 14–7505. Argued October 13, 2015—Decided January 12, 2016 Under Florida law, the maximum sentence a capital felon may receive on the basis of a conviction alone is life imprisonment. He may be sentenced to death, but only if an additional sentencing proceeding “results in findings by the court that such person shall be punished by death.” Fla. Stat. §775.082(1). In that proceeding, the sentencing judge first conducts an evidentiary hearing before a jury. §921.141(1). Next, the jury, by majority vote, renders an “advisory sentence.” §921.141(2). Notwithstanding that recommendation, the court must independently find and weigh the aggravating and miti- gating circumstances before entering a sentence of life or death. §921.141(3). A Florida jury convicted petitioner Timothy Hurst of first-degree murder for killing a co-worker and recommended the death penalty. The court…
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