by: David Ware
Introduction
The Sun Does Shine authored by Anthony Hinton, discusses the criminal justice system in the State of Alabama, specifically addressing the use of capital punishment. Mr. Hinton, an African American man, was convicted of the murder of two restaurant workers in 1985 and was sentenced to death.[1] However, there are two important distinctions to be made about this case. First and foremost, Mr. Hinton was wrongly convicted and was released in 2015, 30 years after his arrest. Secondly, he was sentenced to death by a nonunanimous jury vote of 10-2.[2] Mr. Hinton’s story is a terrifying reality that many in the State of Alabama face, not only was he innocent of the charges brought against him, but he was sentenced to death by majority not unanimity. Alabama is the only state in the U.S. to allow the sentencing of defendants to death by a nonunanimous jury, which is only one of many issues in the State of Alabama’s sentencing process.[3] Up until 2017, Alabama allowed the presiding judge of a sentencing hearing to overturn the sentencing of a jury in capital offenses.[4] This act known as Judicial Override, allowed a judge to overturn a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole to a sentence of capital punishment, or vice versa. Judicial Override was an act that was only condoned by four states in the United States: Indiana, Delaware, Florida, and Alabama. All four of these states have since abolished this act: Indiana in 2002, Florida in 2016, Delaware’s Supreme Court ruling it unconstitutional in 2016, and in 2017 Governor Kay Ivy signed SB16 abolishing it in the State of Alabama.[5]
Many prominent organizations dedicated to promoting the rights of the accused and convicted, such as the American Civil Liberties Union and the Equal Justice Initiative, had long advocated for the abolishment of the act of Judicial Override.[6] However, both of these organizations even after the abolishment of judicial override in the State of Alabama, still point out two main areas that should be focused on in the Alabama criminal justice system, specifically pertaining to capital punishment.[7] The first of these issues is that Alabama is the only state to not require a unanimous jury for a sentence of capital punishment, and the second is those sentenced to capital punishment due to Judicial Override are still held to that sentence even after the passage and enactment of SB16 in 2017.
Nonunanimous Juries
Criminal proceedings in the State of Alabama operate under Title 13A of the Alabama Code. Under this code of laws, once a defendant has been found guilty of a capital offense, they are then given a separate sentencing hearing in which the jury determines the appropriate punishment.[8] Pursuant to Title 13A § 13A-5-46 of the Alabama Code “The decision of the jury to recommend a sentence of death must be based on a vote of at least 10 jurors.”[9] In recent years, multiple Alabamians have been executed due to this specific statute. In 1993 a Fayette County jury, by a margin of 10-2, sentenced 19 year old Christopher Price to death for the murder of Bill Lynn; Price was then executed in May of 2019.[10] Nathanial Woods was convicted of the murder of three police officers in 2005, and was sentenced to death, again by a jury margin of 10-2; Woods was then executed March of 2020.[11]
The allowance of nonunanimous juries, by the Alabama Code, to determine the sentencing of capital punishment is problematic for a multitude of reasons. These defendants that are facing the possibility of capital punishment during their sentencing hearings have already been convicted of a capital offense. At that point, pursuant to Title 13A § 13A-5-39 of the Alabama Code, the defendant would either face life in prison without the possibility of parole or capital punishment.[12] In either case the defendant who has been deemed guilty would no longer be a danger to society, as there is no possibility that individual would re-enter society. At the sentencing hearing, the jury is responsible for determining if there were “one or more aggravating circumstances as defined in Section 13A-5-49… and that they outweigh the mitigating circumstances,” and if so “shall deliver a verdict of death.”[13] If not all of the members of the jury can come to the same conclusion that the defendant is deserving of capital punishment, clearly there is not a consensus of whether or not the correct criteria have been met. In many instances, we as a society pursue law through a majority rule process. However, when something has a significant weight and effect on us, a simple majority is not enough. The punishment of death is one of those cases where there must be a consensus on whether or not an individual is deserving of capital punishment. Every state in the United States agrees that this is essential to protecting the rights of the accused and the rights of those convicted, except the State of Alabama.
Judicial Override
From 1976, until its abolishment in 2017, there have been 112 instances of judicial override, with 92% of them being overrides from life in prison without the possibility of parole to death by judges.[14] While this act was abolished by the bill authored by State Senator Dick Brewbaker and signed into law by Governor Kay Ivy, there are still individuals on death row as a result of judicial override.[15] As made clear by both the Office of the Governor of Alabama and the State Legislature, we as a society have deemed this act of judges overturning jury findings morally wrong, however this act of justice is not being felt by all those affected by judicial override.
In order to ensure that all people facing charges of capital crimes have and continue to be treated equally by courts of law, those who faced sentencing of capital punishment, due to judicial override that remain on death row, should be granted new sentencing hearings. State prosecutors argue that this bill was signed after the hearing of individuals sentenced to capital punishment due to judicial override, and therefore they should still be held to that sentence.[16] While this idea of grandfather clauses is used throughout statutes to prevent some sort of retroactive effect, as in many instances ex post facto laws can be problematic, the gravity of the effects of judicial override cannot be overstated… someone’s life hangs in the balance.[17] Additionally, ex post facto laws seek to make past actions that have already occurred subject to legal ramifications. Granting new sentencing hearings does not affect the initial trial nor conviction; therefore, there would be minimal effects on the initial hearing itself, ensuring that those who have committed crimes in the past are brought to justice, but given the appropriate sentence by a jury of their peers rather than a judge.
Summation
The State of Alabama has made great strides to correct past issues in its judiciary, including abolishing Judicial Override in 2017. SB16 was an essential first step to ensuring that our criminal justice system in this state is fair and equal to all. However, there are more steps that must be taken to ensure that all citizens of this state are sentenced appropriately in courts of law. For capital punishment to be imposed on a defendant, the State of Alabama should follow in the footsteps of its 49 counterparts and require that juries have a unanimous consensus. Additionally, those who remain on death row to this day as result of an abolished standard of Judicial Override, should be sentenced by a jury of their peers, as prescribed in the XI Amendment of the United States Constitution.
[1] Anthony Ray Hinton, The Sun Does Shine (Random House UK, 2019).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-46
[4] “SB16 (2017) – JUDICIAL OVERRIDE,” ACLU Alabama, August 6, 2018, https://www.aclualabama.org/en/legislation/sb16-2017-judicial-override.
[5] SB16, The Alabama Legislature (2017) (enacted); Jessica Masulli Reyes, “Top Court: Delaware’s Death Penalty Law Unconstitutional,” Delaware Online (The News Journal Media Group, August 3, 2016), https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2016/08/02/court-delawares-death-penalty-law-unconstitutional/87963012/; Kent Faulk, “Gov. Kay Ivey Signs Jury Override Bill into Law,” AL.com (Advance Publications, April 11, 2017), https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2017/04/post_317.html.
[6] “SB16 (2017) – JUDICIAL OVERRIDE,” ACLU Alabama, August 6, 2018, https://www.aclualabama.org/en/legislation/sb16-2017-judicial-override; “The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override,” Equal Justice Initiative, August 21, 2020, https://eji.org/reports/judge-override/.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-39; Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-45
[9] Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-46
[10] Christopher Lee Price v. Commissioner, Alabama Department of Corrections (The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit May 29, 2019); Dev Wakeley, “Non-Unanimous Death Sentences Stain Alabama’s Justice System,” AL.com (Advance Publications, June 12, 2019), https://www.al.com/opinion/2019/06/non-unanimous-death-sentences-stain-alabamas-justice-system.html.
[11] Nathaniel Woods v. State of Alabama (Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals April 29, 2016); Rick Rojas, “2 Jurors Voted to Spare Nathaniel Woods’s Life. Alabama Executed Him.,” The New York Times (The New York Times, March 5, 2020), https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/05/us/nathaniel-woods-alabama.html?auth=login-email&login=email.
[12] Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-39
[13] Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-46; Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code § 13A-5-49
[14] “The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override,” Equal Justice Initiative, August 21, 2020, https://eji.org/reports/judge-override/.
[15] Kent Faulk, “Gov. Kay Ivey Signs Jury Override Bill into Law,” AL.com (Advance Publications, April 11, 2017), https://www.al.com/news/birmingham/2017/04/post_317.html.
[16] “The Death Penalty in Alabama: Judge Override,” Equal Justice Initiative, August 21, 2020, https://eji.org/reports/judge-override/.
[17] Jessica Masulli Reyes, “Top Court: Delaware’s Death Penalty Law Unconstitutional,” Delaware Online (The News Journal Media Group, August 3, 2016), https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2016/08/02/court-delawares-death-penalty-law-unconstitutional/87963012/.