ISABELLE CARBAJALES—The constitutionality of capital punishment has long been debated. The rights of those on death row and aspects of the death-penalty system have been similarly subject to wide-spread debate. One of the more recent death penalty debates arises in Ramirez v. Collier and questions the role of spiritual advisors during the execution of death […]
SYDNEY FELDMAN—As State Attorney for Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, Aramis Ayala is “the prosecuting officer of all trial courts in the [Ninth Circuit].” Fla. Const. art. V, § 17. In this capacity, Ayala is charged daily with making “tough choices as to which crimes to prosecute and which penalties to pursue in consideration of [her] […]
JORDAN GRAY—No matter where you fall in the depths of the death penalty debate, it is undisputed that Florida currently has the second largest death-row population in the country with almost four hundred inmates waiting to meet the needle that will put an end to their years in solitary. But times may be changing. Prior […]
INGA IVSAN—The role of the trial judge in the plea bargaining process is not well defined at common law. Numerous cases cite the wide discretion of a trial judge without further analysis. However, there is a difference between the role of the trial judge in an adversarial system of criminal justice compared to a trial […]
BY ZACHARY D. LUDENS — In the closing issue of the University of Miami Law Review’s 67th Volume, Brendan Ryan offered a thoughtful analysis of Florida’s capital punishment regime and one United States District Judge’s determination that this regime was no longer constitutional. Although the Supreme Court of the United States ultimately declined to address […]
