USA - Florida. House looks to speed up death penalty.

House looks to speed up death penalty. With more than 400 people on Florida's death row, the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee today approved a proposed constitutional amendment that is part of a plan to try to reduce delays in carrying out the death penalty. The proposed constitutional amendment would shift power from the courts system to lawmakers to set rules about what are known as "post-conviction" appeals in death-penalty cases. The House Criminal Justice Subcommittee also approved an accompanying bill that spelled out several steps for trying to speed up the process. The subcommittee voted 8-5 to approve the proposed constitutional amendment (PCB CRJS 13-04) and 9-4 to approve the accompanying bill (PCB CRJS 13-05).