Since 1976, Florida has exonerated 23 inmates on death row. The number of executions during that same period is 68. For every three executions, there is one exoneration. That’s a sobering statistic.
So is this. Florida is the only state that permits jurors to make a recommendation of death based on a simple majority vote.
Put it this way: The ultimate penalty imposed by an eminently imperfect system could include as many as five jurors who don’t believe death is the proper punishment. A jury-room tie-breaker to recommend death? Surely, fallible human beings can do better.