FL Death Penalty Debate Continues:  A Miami-Dade judge ruled Monday that Florida's death penalty system, even with the new changes enacted, is unconstitutional because jurors are not required to agree unanimously on execution.  David Ovalle of the Miami Herald reports that Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch issued the ruling in the case of Karon Gaiter, who is awaiting trial for first-degree murder.  Hirsch stated that Florida's new law requiring 10 of 12 juror votes to impose the death penalty "goes against the long-time sanctity of unanimous verdicts in the U.S. justice system."  Even though the new law also requires jurors to unanimously vote on aggravating factors, Hirsch says the fixes don't matter.  The U.S. Supreme Court declared Florida's death sentencing system unconstitutional in January, in the case of Timothy Lee Hurst, because it did not require the jury to return a specific finding on the existence of an aggravating circumstance needed to make the case eligible for the death penalty.  (The article incorrectly implies that the problem related to the ultimate sentencing decision.  See Kent's post earlier today.)  The Florida Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week in the Hurst case and now, with Hirsch's ruling, the debate rages on.

Drug Dealing is a Violent Crime:  Former directors of the Office of National Drug Control Policy William J. Bennett and John P. Walters have this piece in the Washington Examiner dispelling the claims made by President Obama that federal prisons are filled with "non-violent drug offenders" and that drug dealing is a "victimless crime."  Bennett and Walters say that the Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act that is now before Congress is based on these lies, as 99.5% of those incarcerated in federal prison for drug convictions are guilty of serious trafficking offenses and among state drug inmates, 77% reoffended within five years of release, a quarter of them committing violent crimes.  Beyond that, "only the dishonest and willfully blind can claim that drug trafficking is a non-violent" and victimless crime and push for the release of experienced drug traffickers as the nation endures a 440% increase in heroin overdose deaths over the past seven years.  Bennett and Walters conclude that, knowing all of this, it is irresponsible to release drug dealers from prison before they have completed their just sentences.

Bloody Mother's Day Weekend in Chicago:  By the time Mother's Day weekend came to an end in Chicago, eight people were killed and 43 wounded in shootings across the city, making it the most violent weekend since September.  Alexandra Chachkevitch and Megan Crepeau of the Chicago Tribune report that on Saturday alone, in the span of 3.5 hours, someone was shot every 14 minutes.  The victims ranged in age from 16 to 58.  At least 1,225 people have been shot in Chicago so far this year, breaking records not seen since the 1990s.