Execute Justice: The Time Has Come to End California's Death Penalty

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Who is accountable for this broken system, what are we doing to repair it, and is it really worth the price?

By Natasha Minsker

These are just some of the questions that the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice should be asking as it begins to examine California’s broken death penalty system. The Commission will hold the first of three hearings today, January 10. The same day, Gov. Schwarzenegger releases his plan to deal with state’s crippling $14 billion budget deficit. The Commission and the governor must come to terms with the spiraling costs we pay to maintain an unfair, unjust, and unnecessary death penalty system. The question is, what are they going to do about it?

The California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice was created by the California Senate to investigate the causes of wrongful conviction and wrongful executions, and to recommend reforms to make California’s criminal justice system “just, fair, and accurate.” Composed of law enforcement, prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, and citizens, the Commission has already issued a series of unanimous recommendations related to the other problems in California’s criminal justice system. In public hearings from January through March, the Commission will tackle the many flaws in California’s death penalty. Now is the time for all Californians to start asking some challenging questions.

Is the death penalty applied unfairly?

At the first hearing, experts will present evidence about how California’s death penalty is unfairly applied, discussing troubling racial, ethnic, and geographic disparities in who is sentenced to die. For example:

• A person whose victim is white is three times more likely to be sentenced to die than a person whose victim is African-American and four times more likely than a person whose victim is Latino.

• Counties with a high proportion of white residents are much more likely to pursue the death penalty than more diverse communities.

• Most California counties have abandoned the death penalty: Only 10 counties account for over 80 percent of all death sentences.