Death Penalty Focus, California & Ohio Halts Executions, Restoring Justice Summit at Tulane University is today, GOP Lawmakers Leading Death Penalty Repeal, Conservatives Concerned About the Death Penalty, New Hampshire Passes Repeal & Wyoming Fails To Pass Repeal!

California Halts Executions!

Governor Gavin Newsom has announced an executive order that will halt all executions in the state of California. In addition to this, the order will also close the state’s death chamber and pull the current execution protocol. The governor called the practice of capital punishment “discriminatory, unjust, and inconsistent with our bedrock values”.

California has the largest death row in the country and has spent $4 billion on its death penalty system, a system that has not been used since 2006. We commend the governor for his leadership and hope other states will follow suit. The death penalty is a failure and a waster of resources.

As of March 2019, further executions are halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. ... The last execution that took place in California was in 2006. As of August 2018, official California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) records show 744 inmates on California's death row.

737 Death Row Prisoners Should Have Sentences Commuted

Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to order a moratorium on executions in California shows leadership on this key human rights issue, Human Rights Watch said today. With today’s announcement, California continues a trend in the United States away from the inherently cruel punishment, joining Colorado, Oregon, and Pennsylvania, which have similar bans, and 20 states that have abolished the death penalty.

Newsom has recognized the cruelty, the moral and fiscal costs, and the discriminatory nature of death sentencing in the state. California has 737 prisoners on death row, more than twice as many as any other state.

“Governor Newsom has demonstrated great courage and leadership in ending the cruel, costly, and unfair practice of executing prisoners,” said Alison Parker, US managing director at Human Rights Watch. “Californians should be proud their state has taken a stand to end state-sanctioned killing and uphold the human rights of all people.”

Human rights law recognizes the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all people, including even those who have committed terrible crimes. It prohibits torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading punishment. Human Rights Watch believes these rights cannot be reconciled with the death penalty, a form of punishment unique in its cruelty and finality.

In the US, the death penalty is inevitably plagued with arbitrariness, racial disparities, and error; 164 people, including four from California, have been released from death row since 1973 after being later found innocent. Just last month, two California prisoners who each had spent over 30 years on death row were freed after appellate courts found significant errors in their trials.

Studies over the past several decades have found persistent patterns of racial disparities in courts imposing the death penalty, with black people much more likely to receive such verdicts than white people, especially if the victim of their crime is white. According to a recent statistical summary issued by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, of the 737 prisoners on death row, 36 percent are black, though black people make up less than 7 percent of the state’s population.

A 2011 study found that the death penalty had cost California taxpayers over $4 billion since its reinstatement in 1978.

Executions in the US have declined in recent years, with 25 executions in 2018 and 3 in 2019, compared with 98 in 1999. California has only killed 13 people since reinstating its death penalty and has not carried out an execution since 2006, when a court found the state’s use of lethal injection violates the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, a position also advanced by Human Rights Watch. California voters narrowly rejected ballot initiatives to abolish it in 2012 and 2016, though they passed a measure in 2016 to streamline its administration. Newsom’s moratorium will prevent the state from resuming executions.

“The governor has taken a strong moral stand and we hope other states will follow,” Parker said. “Human Rights Watch believes the sentences of all 737 prisoners on California’s death row should be commuted.”

On Wednesday, March 13, California Governor Gavin Newsom made history by announcing that he would not allow the state to execute anyone on his watch.

"Our death penalty system has been – by any measure – a failure. And as governor, I will not oversee the execution of any individual," he said in his announcement.

Care2 and Death Penalty Focus have launched a petition to thank Gov. Newsom for his leadership on the issue.

Please add your name to the list of supporters and include a personal message to the governor about why his announcement was important to you. We will be delivering the messages to Gov. Newsom in a few weeks.

Gov. Newsom's order gives indefinite reprieves to all 737 people on death row. It also withdrew the state's lethal injection protocol and ordered that the execution chambers be immediately decommissioned and dismantled.

This is a historic step. With 737 people, California has the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere. 737 people were waiting to know if and when the government would execute them. Two out of every three prisoners on death row are people of color. At least one-third have serious mental illnesses. More than half were 25 or younger when they committed their crimes. Many of them may be innocent. Many more come from a small handful of counties that just happen to have bloodthirsty District Attorneys. No one should be sentenced to death – let alone executed – under such circumstances, and Gov. Newsom ensured that will not happen as long as he is in office.

Please take a moment to thank Gov. Newsom by clicking here.

Ohio Halts Executions!

In February, Governor Mike DeWine in Ohio also issued a halt on all pending executions. Citing a court opinion from a federal magistrate judge who found that the state’s execution protocols amounted to torture, DeWine said there would be no more executions in the state until a constitutional method was found. Again, we commend the governor for his leadership and commitment to the constitution.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine stops executions, wants new protocol.

Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that he is halting executions until the state devises a new lethal injection protocol that overcomes any court challenges.

He did not issue a formal stay of all executions but said “Ohio is not going to execute someone under my watch when a federal judge has found it to be cruel and unusual punishment.”He directed prison officials to come up with a new protocol, which will likely face legal challenge in federal court, he said.“We certainly could have no executions during that period of time. I don’t want to predict dates, but we have to have the protocol, then it will be challenged, then we have a judge make a decision. So we have to through all that process before we could certainly move down the path toward an execution,” he said.The next scheduled execution is May 29. DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney said the governor will decide whether to go ahead or delay that execution based on the facts at the time, including whether the federal judge’s ruling has been overturned.When asked if he now has personal reservations about capital punishment, DeWine said, “It is the law of the state of Ohio. I’m going to let it go at that at this point. We are seeing, clearly, some challenges that you all have reported in regard to carrying out the death penalty. I’m not going to go down that path any more today.”

DeWine voted for the capital punishment law as a state senator nearly 40 years ago, long before DNA analysis of crime scene evidence led to exonerations from death rows across the country.When asked if those exonerations have changed his view of the capital punishment, DeWine responded, “I think there is a lot of things we know today that we have the benefit of seeing how it has played out since 1981. We know more today.”

Ohio Last month, DeWine delayed the scheduled execution of Warren Keith Hanness after U.S. District Court Judge Michael Merz ruled that Ohio’s current execution protocol could cause the inmate “severe pain and needless suffering.”It took Ohio more than three years to establish its current three-drug lethal injection protocol, in part because of the difficulty many states have had finding drugs. The state carried out the first execution under the current system in 2017.Because of Ohio’s use of midazolam, Merz called the constitutionality of the state’s system into question in a Jan. 14 ruling and said inmates could suffer an experience similar to water boarding.However, Merz did not stop the execution. Instead, he said that under a test created by a previous U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Henness couldn’t demonstrate that a feasible execution alternative exists, and thus the execution could proceed.Ohio has a long history with capital punishment, beginning in 1803 when it carried out executions by public hanging. The electric chair was used from 1897 to 1963 and lethal injection has been the method since executions resumed in 1999.There are 137 inmates on Ohio Death Row, including Samuel Moreland of Dayton, who was found guilty of murdering two women and three children in November 1985. Moreland, who insists he is innocent, won the right for additional DNA testing, which has been delayed because of bureaucratic red tape.

Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said Tuesday he is working with Montgomery County Prosecutor Mathias Heck and Moreland’s attorneys to have the state crime lab conduct the tests within 30 days.Information from the Associated Press is included in this report.

New Hampshire Passes Repeal Through the House!

New Hampshire is moving quickly towards repeal for the second time in a year. A bill to repeal the death penalty passed through the House with a vote of 279 to 88! That number gives them a comfortable veto-proof majority in the House, which they may need should the governor veto the bill again. The bill will be voted on in the senate at the end of the month. If you’re in the state, contact your representatives or join our local coalition to help move the needle!

Wyoming Fails to Pass Repeal…

But boy did they come close. This little red state came out swinging this session, rapidly moving a repeal bill through their House and falling only four votes shy of advancing it in the senate. With such an impressive effort, this will certainly not be the last we hear of them.

Successful CPAC

We exhibited at CPAC for the seventh year in a row last month. Per usual, we had a wonderful experience and encountered lots of conservatives eager to talk through the problems with the death penalty. You can read more about our experience here.

Help Share the Coverage

We’ve had an incredible amount of media coverage over the past couple of months. You can read pieces by or about us in The Hill, Newsmax, The Guardian, and The Wall Street Journal. Be sure to share these on your social media platforms.

Eight States with Republicans Leading Repeal

As of this writing, there are eight states with Republican-led efforts to repeal the death penalty. The Wall Street Journal recently covered this phenomenon and highlighted the work of our organization.

GOP Lawmakers Leading Death Penalty Repeal in Several States

Since 2000, the number of Republicans sponsoring bills to repeal the death penalty has grown ten-fold. Keeping with current trends, 2019 is turning out to be a big year for repeal, and conservatives are leading the way yet again.

Four states with Republican control in both houses have seen bills this session sponsored by GOP lawmakers to repeal the death penalty: Wyoming, Kentucky, Montana, and Missouri.

On top of that, GOP lawmakers have also introduced repeal bills in states with a Democrat majority, with those being New Hampshire and Washington. In Washington, the state Supreme Court struck down their death penalty system as unconstitutional due to racial bias last fall, but legislators are motivated to get the law off the books once and for all.

And there are still even more states where repeal bills are expected to be filed this session, including Louisiana and Colorado. A verdict is taking shape across the nation: conservatives have turned against the death penalty.

Last year, New Hampshire passed repeal through two Republican-controlled chambers and fell only two votes shy of veto override majority. The state has only one person facing a death sentence but spends an estimated $750,000 a year to keep it on the books. It looks very favorable that they will pass their bill this year.

In Wyoming, HB 145 has been steamrolling through the legislature. A young conservative representative, Jared Olsen, has been championing the motion as its lead sponsor. He’s been joined by practically the entirety of the Republican House Majority members as well, and just a few weeks ago they successfully passed the bill on the House floor.

This week, the Wyoming State Senate will hold its first hearing on the bill, and a floor vote could come as soon as Thursday. If the Senate passes the measure, it will move on to the governor’s desk. This state may just be the surprise victory of the year, and others are taking notice.

Across the board, conservatives are realizing that the death penalty simply does not work, and they are throwing in the towel. Even in states not considering repeal measures this year, new death sentences are down and so are executions.

As conservative states continue to lead on this issue, they make high-use states look more and more foolish. While states like Tennessee and Texas waste millions of dollars a year on new capital trials, lengthy appeals, and litigation over their shady execution protocols (all while their crime rates soar), more measured states are embracing conservative principles.

By repealing the death penalty, those states will save taxpayer dollars that can be redirected towards crime prevention methods that actually work and towards services for victim’s families that help them rebuild their lives. Today, this is what it looks like for conservatives to lead in fiscal responsibility, limiting government, and enshrining the dignity of human life.

Restoring Justice Summit

We will also be participating in the Restoring Justice Summit at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA on Saturday, March 16th. The event will take place between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm CT and is hosted by Students for Liberty. If you’re in the area and would like to help us table, please let us know! Event details here.

Don Lichterman
Sunset Corporation of America (SCA)
Sustainable Action Network (SAN)