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• Sometimes it’s difficult to assess hot-button topics from a strictly economic point of view. Economic analyst Hank Fishkind walks us through some just-the-facts financial considerations of Florida’s death penalty system.
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• The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that Gov. Rick Scott has the authority to remove Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala from first-degree murder cases despite her opposition.
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• A $1.3 million budget cut to the Orange and Osceola state attorney’s office took effect this month. It’s the latest move in a legal rift between state attorney Aramis Ayala and Florida Governor Rick Scott over the death penalty. The money was originally appropriated as special funding to combat human trafficking and domestic violence. Victims’ rights advocates are concerned.
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• More than $1 Million was cut from the Orange and Osceola County State Attorney’s office budget after prosecutor Aramis Ayala announced she would not seek the death penalty. 90.7’s Renata Sago joins Intersection to talk about what the budget cuts mean to the state attorney’s office, along with Republican state representative Scott Plakon.
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• The closely watched dispute between Orange-Osceola state attorney Aramis Ayala and Governor Rick Scott over the death penalty made its way to the Florida Supreme Court on Wednesday. Justices will now interpret whether it was legal for Scott to reassign two dozen murder cases from Ayala to another prosecutor.
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• The dispute between Gov. Rick Scott and Orange-Osceola state attorney Aramis Ayala over the death penalty advances to state Supreme Court Wednesday morning with oral arguments.
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• A State Supreme Court ruling that said previous death sentences are unconstitutional will send hundreds of death row cases back to the courts for resentencing.
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• ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Dozens of prosecutors and judges from around the nation have filed a legal brief in support of a Florida prosecutor who refuses to seek the death penalty.
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• Aside from debating life and death, the conversation around Florida’s death penalty has some racist undertones, as evidenced this week after Orange-Osceola State Attorney Aramis Ayala said a noose was mailed to her office. Ayala made the remarks during a radio interview on WHPB 98.5 The Wire, a station based in the Pine Hills area. Host Paul Porter had asked Ayala about the threats she received after announcing in March that she wouldn’t seek the death penalty for capital cases, including the case of murder suspect Markeith Loyd. Since Ayala announced her decision, she was removed from the Loyd case and 22 more first-degree murder cases by Gov. Rick Scott, who said she “won’t fight for justice.” Ayala has filed …
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• Jury selection began Monday morning in the first death penalty murder trial in Orange County since ninth circuit state attorney Aramis Ayala said she would not pursue that punishment. 29-year-old Juan Rosario faces execution for arson and first degree murder in the death of his 83-year-old neighbor Elena Ortega.
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