Wednesday, August 03, 2016

One state at a time...

The Delaware Supreme Court has ruled that the death penalty is unconstitutional:
Delaware's Supreme Court has ruled that the state's death penalty is unconstitutional.

The high court said on Tuesday the law violated the role of jury described in the Sixth Amendment of US Constitution.

The Delaware state law gave judges - not juries - the final say to impose a death sentence.

The decision comes after the US Supreme Court ruled in January that a similar death penalty law in Florida was unconstitutional.


Unfortunately the decision is on procedural grounds, and its still open to them to legislate for a different procedure. But for the moment, its off the books, and that's a small victory in itself.