Death Penalty Focus, Kevin Cooper,Joe Garriatano, Mike Farrell, Gov. Jerry Brown, California’s death penalty and Proposition 66 & from Florida to California, the machinery of death continues to grind away.

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We ended 2018 with hopes that outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown would take some steps toward addressing California’s broken death penalty system before he left office, but on Monday, he turned over the reins of state government to Gavin Newsom having done nothing about the nearly 740 women and men on death row.
  • Still, as DPF President Mike Farrell explains, we are more committed to our mission than ever, secure in the knowledge that we have Newsom as an ally.
  • Governors do have the power to grant clemency to the men and women on death row, and we have a synopsis of the options.
  • Meanwhile, Proposition 66 is slowly being implemented, and we look at the problems that will engender.
  • We explain why Kevin Cooper was less than satisfied with the DNA testing Brown ordered in his case.
  • In our “Voices” column, we talk with Joseph Giarratano about his life one year after he was paroled from prison.
You’ll find all that, plus a quick rundown of death penalty developments around the country, and a few reading suggestions below.

“We’re still here, far from defeated”

DPF President Mike Farrell explains how outgoing Gov. Jerry Brown’s refusal to address California’s broken death penalty system before leaving office will not derail our mission.
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Pardons, commutations, and moratorium defined

English law student Elena Michael clears up the confusion surrounding each of the actions governors have the authority to take when it comes to death row prisoners.
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California’s death penalty and Proposition 66

DPF Board Member and death penalty attorney Nancy Haydt explains how Prop 66 will only make the state’s death penalty system worse for everyone involved.
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Brown orders DNA testing in Kevin Cooper case

Gov. Brown ordered limited DNA testing on evidence from the Kevin Cooper case before he left office, but Cooper says he didn’t go far enough.

In brief: January 2018

From Florida to California, the machinery of death continues to grind away.           

While we’re on the subject . . .

An analysis of the problems with the accuracy of eyewitness testimony in the New York Times, and a UCLA Law School research paper on the unreliability of forensic science are just two of our reading recommendations this month.

Voices: Joe Garriatano

One year after leaving prison for a double murder he didn’t commit, Joe Garriatano looks at the life he left behind, and the one he’s leading now.