GOP lawmakers eye new death penalty law after court ruling

DOVER, Del. – Republican lawmakers plan to introduce legislation revising Delaware’s death penalty law, which the state Supreme Court declared unconstitutional this week.

Citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Florida case earlier this year, the state justices said Delaware’s law was unconstitutional because it allows judges too much discretion and does not require that a jury find unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt that a defendant deserves to be executed.

In a statement issued Friday, a group of 15 Republican lawmakers noted that only three of the five justices concurred entirely with the majority opinion. They said the ruling is an opportunity to craft a stronger capital punishment statute that meets constitutional standards.

The lawmakers said they will work with legal staff and introduced legislation next year to restore capital punishment.