Florida Set To Resume Executions After 18-Month Hiatus

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TALLAHASSEE (CBSMiami/AP) — A highly disputed issue is moving back into the spotlight, and for good reason.

Florida Gov. Rick Scott is set to resume executions after a hiatus of more than 18 months after the U.S. Supreme Court found Florida's death sentencing procedure was flawed because it allowed judges to reach a different conclusion from juries.

Scott rescheduled the execution of Mark Asay for July 18.

Asay was originally scheduled to be executed on March 17, 2016, for the 1987 murders of Robert Lee Booker and Robert McDowell in Jacksonville.

The execution was put on hold after the U.S. Supreme Court found the state's death penalty law unconstitutional.

The Legislature has since twice changed the law, most recently this year when it required a unanimous jury recommendation for the death penalty.

Asay would be the 24th person executed since Scott took office in 2011.

(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)