No. 18-1449

Harold Lee Harvey, Jr. v. Florida

Lower Court: Florida
Docketed: 2019-05-21
Status: Denied
Type: Paid
Tags: arbitrary-factors constitutional-rights death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment hurst-v-florida judicial-decisions retroactive-application retroactivity ring-v-arizona sixth-amendment
Key Terms:
AdministrativeLaw DueProcess Punishment HabeasCorpus Privacy
Latest Conference: 2019-10-01
Question Presented (AI Summary)

Does the Florida Supreme Court's decision denying retroactive application of the Hurst decisions to Mr. Harvey violate the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments because it uses an arbitrary cut-off point and other arbitrary factors—such as the timing of judicial decisions—to determine whether similarly situated death row prisoners will receive retroactive application of constitutional rights?

Question Presented (OCR Extract)

QUESTION PRESENTED This Court held in Hurst v. Florida (“Hurst I’) that Florida’s sentencing system in capital cases violated the Sixth Amendment because it required a judge, rather than a jury, “to find each fact necessary to impose a sentence of death.” 136 S. Ct. 616, 619 (2016). On remand, the Florida Supreme Court held in Hurst v. State (“Hurst IT’) that the death penalty may be imposed only when the jury wnanimously decides on that sentence. 202 So. 3d 40, 57 (Fla. 2016). The Florida Supreme Court later held that both Hurst I and Hurst IT apply retroactively, but only to prisoners whose death sentences became final after Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002). See Asay v. State, 210 So. 3d 1 (Fla. 2016); Mosley v. State, 209 So. 3d 1248 (Fla. 2016). The Question Presented is: Does the Florida Supreme Court’s decision denying retroactive application of the Hurst decisions to Mr. Harvey violate the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendments because it uses an arbitrary cut-off point and other arbitrary factors—such as the timing of judicial decisions—to determine whether similarly situated death row prisoners will receive retroactive application of constitutional rights?

Docket Entries

2019-10-07
Petition DENIED.
2019-07-03
DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 10/1/2019.
2019-07-02
Reply of petitioner Harold Lee Harvey, Jr. filed.
2019-06-19
Brief of respondent Florida in opposition filed.
2019-05-17
Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due June 20, 2019)
2019-03-06
Application (18A905) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from March 20, 2019 to May 19, 2019, submitted to Justice Thomas.
2018-03-08
Application (18A905) granted by Justice Thomas extending the time to file until May 19, 2019.

Attorneys

Florida
Carolyn M. SnurkowskiOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
Carolyn M. SnurkowskiOffice of the Attorney General, Respondent
Harold Lee Harvey, Jr.
Ross Benjamin BrickerJenner & Block LLP, Petitioner
Ross Benjamin BrickerJenner & Block LLP, Petitioner