Isn't sentencing the judge's responsibility, and not the jury's?
The death penalty is different. I don't understand how Alabama isn't blatantly violating Supreme Court precedent here. In 2002, in Ring v. Arizona, the Supreme Court ruled that only a jury can find the aggravating factors to impose the death penalty (otherwise, there is a violation of the Sixth Amendment). A judge can only impose the death penalty once the jury has found aggravating factors and recommended said penalty. In the majority on that case, Justice Ginsburg wrote the decision (with Stevens, Scalia, Kennedy, Souter, and Thomas in the majority). Only O'Connor and Rehnquist were in dissent on that case.
I can't see how Alabama isn't in violation of that ruling. Of course, this would hardly be the first time that the state of Alabama refuses to respect and abide by the United States Constitution, so I suppose no one should surprised here. There's no reason why SCOTUS shouldn't summarily rule against Alabama in this case.
As I understand it,
Ring said that the judge could not go beyond the facts found by the jury in determining appropriate sentencing. The jury must find that the guilty party is eligible for the death penalty, but they do not need to recommend it.
