Hurst v. Florida

Docket No.	Op. Below	Argument	Opinion	Vote	Author	Term
14-7505	Fla.	Oct 13, 2015 Tr.Aud.	Jan 12, 2016	8-1	Sotomayor	OT 2015

Holding: Florida's capital-sentencing scheme, in which a jury renders an “advisory sentence” but a judge must independently weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors before entering a sentence of life or death, violates the Sixth Amendment in light of the Court's decision in Ring v. Arizona, which deemed unconstitutional an Arizona capital sentencing scheme that permitted a judge rather than the jury to find the facts necessary to sentence a defendant to death.

Judgment: Reversed and remanded, 8-1, in an opinion by Justice Sotomayor on January 12, 2016. Justice Breyer filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Justice Alito filed a dissenting opinion.

SCOTUSblog Coverage

Opinion analysis: Juries control the death penalty (UPDATED) (Lyle Denniston)
Argument analysis: Moral responsibility for death sentences (Lyle Denniston)
Argument preview: Defining the jury's role on death penalty (Lyle Denniston)
As the 2015 Term opens: The Court’s unusual Eighth Amendment focus (Rory Little)
Criminal law grants for the October Term 2015 (Rory Little)
Court to rule on jury role in death sentencing (Lyle Denniston)

Date	Proceedings and Orders (key to color coding)
Dec 3 2014	Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due January 12, 2015)
Jan 12 2015	Brief of respondent Florida in opposition filed.
Jan 29 2015	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of February 20, 2015.
Feb 16 2015	MANDATE ISSUED
Feb 23 2015	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of February 27, 2015.
Mar 2 2015	DISTRIBUTED for Conference of March 6, 2015.
Mar 9 2015	Motion to proceed in forma pauperis and petition for a writ of certiorari GRANTED limited to the following question: Whether Florida's death sentencing scheme violates the Sixth Amendment or the Eighth Amendment in light of this Court's decision in Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002).
Apr 7 2015	The time to file the joint appendix and petitioner's brief on the merits is extended to and including May 28, 2015.
Apr 7 2015	The time to file respondent's brief on the merits is extended to and including July 29, 2015.
May 28 2015	Joint appendix filed (3 volumes). (Statement of costs filed.)
May 28 2015	Brief of petitioner Timothy Lee Hurst filed.
Jun 4 2015	Brief amicus curiae of American Bar Association filed.
Jun 4 2015	Brief amici curiae of Former Justices of the Supreme Court of Florida filed.
Jun 4 2015	Brief amici curiae of Former Florida Circuit Court Judges filed.
Jun 4 2015	Brief amici curiae of American Civil Liberties Union, et al. filed.
Jul 29 2015	SET FOR ARGUMENT on Tuesday, October 13, 2015.
Jul 29 2015	Brief of respondent Florida filed.
Aug 5 2015	Brief amici curiae of Alabama and Montana filed. (Distributed)
Aug 7 2015	CIRCULATED.
Aug 12 2015	Record requested from the Supreme Court of Florida.
Aug 25 2015	Record received from the Supreme Court of Florida. 1 Box.
Aug 28 2015	Reply of petitioner Timothy Lee Hurst filed. (Distributed)
Oct 13 2015	Argued. For petitioner: Seth P. Waxman, Washington, D. C. For respondent: Allen Winsor, Solicitor General, Tallahassee, Fla.
Jan 12 2016	Judgment REVERSED and case REMANDED. Sotomayor, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C. J., and Scalia, Kennedy, Thomas, Ginsburg, and Kagan, JJ., joined. Breyer, J., filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Alito, J., filed a dissenting opinion.
Feb 16 2016	JUDGMENT ISSUED
Feb 16 2016	MANDATE ISSUED
Feb 22 2016	Record returned to the Supreme Court of Florida.

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The Supreme Court released additional orders from the January 11 conference on Monday; the justices called for the views of the U.S. solicitor general in CSX Transportation Inc. v. Alabama Department of Revenue, Alabama Department of Revenue v. CSX Transportation Inc. and Toshiba Corp. v. Automotive Industries Pension Trust Fund.
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On November 13, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Judge Jennifer Walker Elrod of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit and Judge Susan Carney of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit presided over the final round of the 2018 Ames Moot Court Competition at Harvard Law School.

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Cases argued	43
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Hurst v. Florida

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