Florida governor signs death penalty reforms into law News
Florida governor signs death penalty reforms into law

Florida Governor Rick Scott [official website] on Monday signed into law a bill [HB 7101 materials] revamping the state’s death penalty law. The changes are in response to the US Supreme Court ruling in January that the state’s previous sentencing scheme was unconstitutional [JURIST report]. The new legislation requires jurors to be unanimous on aggravating factors and for 10 of 12 jurors to recommend execution. The previous law was deemed unconstitutional because the state permitted judges to determined whether an individual should be sentenced to death rather than the jury. The uncertainty in the law had forced the state to delay scheduled executions [JURIST report].

Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. In February the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit [official website] rejected [opinion, PDF] a Georgia death row inmate’s legal challenge [JURIST report] to the death penalty. In January Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood [official website] stated that he plans to ask lawmakers to approve the firing squad, electrocution or nitrogen gas as alternate methods of execution [press release] if the state prohibits lethal injection [JURIST report]. The US Supreme Court in January ruled [JURIST report] in Kansas v. Carr [opinion, PDF] that a jury in a death penalty case does not need to be advised that mitigating factors, which can lessen the severity of a criminal act, do not need to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt like aggravating factors.

THIS DAY @ LAW

New law makes Hitler dictator of Germany

On August 3, 1934, the German Parliament passed a law that combined the offices of President and Chancellor, making Adolf Hitler the supreme leader (Fuehrer und Reichskanzler) of Germany. Prior to the law's passage, Hitler had been the German Chancellor with Paul von Hindenberg serving as President. However, Hindenberg died on August 2, and Parliament was pressured to combine the two offices instead of holding an election to replace the deceased President of Germany.

US Congress passed first law regulating immigration

On August 3, 1882, Congress passed the first federal law regulating immigration. Under the statute, state-run boards under contract to the US Secretary of the Treasury were to inspect immigrants according to rules that were uniform in all ports. Boards were prohibited from admitting any immigrant found to be a "convict, lunatic, idiot or any person unable to take care of him or herself without becoming a public charge."

Learn more about eugenics laws restricting immigration.