Post by pumpkinpie on Jul 24, 2008 8:21:21 GMT -5
California Commission Finds State Death Penalty to be "Broken" and "Dysfunctional"
In 2004, the California State Senate created the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The Commission, chaired by former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, includes judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, elected officials, law enforcement officials, and representatives of victims' organizations. The Commission issued its report on California's death penalty on June 30, 2008, after conducting public hearings around the state.
Excerpts from the report:
Delays:
“The elapsed time between judgment and execution in California exceeds that of every other death penalty state. California now has the largest death row in the nation, with 670 awaiting execution."
"Thirty persons have been on California’s death row for more than 25 years; 119 have been on death row for more than 20 years; and 240 have been on death row for more than 15 years."
"The families of murder victims are cruelly deluded into believing that justice will be delivered with finality during their lifetimes.”
~
Costs:
“The additional cost of confining an inmate to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons where those sentenced to life without possibility of parole ordinarily serve their sentences, is $90,000 per year per inmate. With California’s current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually.”
“With a dysfunctional death penalty law, the reality is that most California death sentences are actually sentences of lifetime incarceration. The defendant will die in prison before he or she is ever executed. The same result can be achieved at a savings of well over one hundred million dollars by sentencing the defendant to lifetime incarceration without possibility of parole.”
San Quentin, location of Calif.'s death row
Alternatives Offered:
Narrowing the list of special circumstances that make a case eligible for a death sentence:
Death penalty eligibility should be limited to 5 factors instead of the current 21
Felony murder should be excluded as the basis for death penalty eligibility
Establishing the maximum penalty at lifetime incarceration
Estimating and comparing the annual costs of available alternatives
~
Conclusion:
“This report sets forth an ambitious and expensive agenda of reform. The failure to implement it, however will be even more costly. The death penalty will remain a hollow promise to the people of California.”
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org
In 2004, the California State Senate created the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The Commission, chaired by former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, includes judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, elected officials, law enforcement officials, and representatives of victims' organizations. The Commission issued its report on California's death penalty on June 30, 2008, after conducting public hearings around the state.
Excerpts from the report:
Delays:
“The elapsed time between judgment and execution in California exceeds that of every other death penalty state. California now has the largest death row in the nation, with 670 awaiting execution."
"Thirty persons have been on California’s death row for more than 25 years; 119 have been on death row for more than 20 years; and 240 have been on death row for more than 15 years."
"The families of murder victims are cruelly deluded into believing that justice will be delivered with finality during their lifetimes.”
~
Costs:
“The additional cost of confining an inmate to death row, as compared to the maximum security prisons where those sentenced to life without possibility of parole ordinarily serve their sentences, is $90,000 per year per inmate. With California’s current death row population of 670, that accounts for $63.3 million annually.”
“With a dysfunctional death penalty law, the reality is that most California death sentences are actually sentences of lifetime incarceration. The defendant will die in prison before he or she is ever executed. The same result can be achieved at a savings of well over one hundred million dollars by sentencing the defendant to lifetime incarceration without possibility of parole.”
San Quentin, location of Calif.'s death row
Alternatives Offered:
Narrowing the list of special circumstances that make a case eligible for a death sentence:
Death penalty eligibility should be limited to 5 factors instead of the current 21
Felony murder should be excluded as the basis for death penalty eligibility
Establishing the maximum penalty at lifetime incarceration
Estimating and comparing the annual costs of available alternatives
~
Conclusion:
“This report sets forth an ambitious and expensive agenda of reform. The failure to implement it, however will be even more costly. The death penalty will remain a hollow promise to the people of California.”
www.deathpenaltyinfo.org