The Florida Supreme Court [official website] ruled [order, PDF; opinion, PDF] Monday that prosecutors can seek the death penalty during an ongoing case despite constitutional concerns with Florida’s death penalty law. Last October the state’s Supreme Court ruled [JURIST report] that the state’s new death penalty law was unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court had ruled in January of last year that the state’s death penalty sentencing gave too much power to judges and therefore was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. Monday’s ruling addressed whether the court’s previous ruling affected cases that were currently being prosecuted. Attorney General Pam Bondi [official website] stated [press release]: “I am pleased with the Florida Supreme Court’s decision today to allow ongoing capital punishment cases to proceed with proper jury instruction. This decision provides our courts with the clarification needed to proceed with murder cases in which the death penalty is sought.” The court had released [Orlando Sentinel report] an opinion last month stating that the death penalty couldn’t be applied in pending cases, but withdrew the opinion almost immediately. Bills are currently pending in the Florida legislature to correct the concern over non-unanimous jury votes handing down death sentences.

The death penalty has been a pressing issue across the country. Earlier this month the Mississippi house approved a bill [JURIST report] allowing firing squad executions. Also this month a judge for the US District Court for the Southern District of Ohio refused to lift [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction that delays executions in Ohio. Last month Judge Michael Merz blocked [JURIST report] Ohio’s lethal injection protocol by deeming it unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. In January the US Supreme Court refused [JURIST report] to consider a challenge to Alabama’s death penalty system. In December a report by the Death Penalty Information Center found that the use of capital punishment in the US is at a 20-year low [JURIST report].