Citing his moral conflict with capital punishment, California Gov. Gavin Newsom will sign an executive order Wednesday that places a moratorium on executions of the state’s 737 death row inmates.
The order will halt all executions performed at San Quentin State Prison while Newsom, a Democrat, is governor but leaves all convictions intact. A future governor can undo the order.
“The intentional killing of another person is wrong. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual,” Newsom said in a prepared statement obtained by the Southern California News Group.
“The intentional killing of another person is wrong. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual.”— California Gov. Gavin Newsom
Newsom has been a vocal opponent of the death penalty and has argued it is susceptible to human error. Many have criticized the death penalty as being racially biased and too expensive. Since 1973, 164 prisoners nationwide have been wrongly convicted and freed from death row, according to the Los Angeles Times. – READ MORE