In recent weeks, California Governor Gavin Newsom made an executive decision to suspend the death penalty in the golden state and restrict all executions for the remainder of his term. California is the state with the highest number of inmates on death row and contains a population that has historically supported capital punishment. For these reasons, Newsom’s decision came as a surprise to citizens across the United States.
The United States of America is one of just 56 countries worldwide who retain the usage of the death penalty in their legal systems. As only roughly 30% of countries support capital punishment, it comes as no surprise that there has been immense debate and discussion surrounding the topic throughout US legal history.
Currently, 30 of the 50 states allow the death penalty. California leads in the number of convicted inmates, 744, but trails heavily in executions with just 13 since 1972. Proposition 17, passed in '72, effectively made the death penalty legal in "full force and effect" and was supported at the time by 67.5% of voters.
Today, Newsom rejects capital punishment for a multitude of reasons, and made that evident during his campaign for governor. Primarily however, he speaks of it's economic effects and potential for killing innocent, wrongly-convicted citizens. His announcement of the indefinite ban highlights both his moral stance and evidence-based analysis on why the decision was imminently necessary in his eyes. The governor was criticized for acting against the public and making a "personal decision" in his position of power. Newsom does not deny the accusations that his decision was personal, and even agrees.
“I can’t sign my name to (a death warrant)."
While his personal prohibition on capital punishment certainly rubbed some people the wrong way, others believe his actions could reflect the growing shift away from this ideology. In the last 18 years, support for the death penalty in America has decreased by 18%. In fact, a 2019 poll showed that 62% of Californians would prefer life-imprisonment over the death penalty.
Only 31% of voters in California currently support capital punishment.
However, the most recent voting on the subject in 2016 resulted in 51.1% of voters preferring to speed up the execution process rather than taking it down altogether. Many argue that grief-stricken families desire to see the harshest form of punishment enacted on their offender. Here, mother Milena Sellers Phillips expresses just this, and voices her complete disagreement with Governor Newsom. Both victims and politicians voice strong, moral opinions on the matter that evoke deeply polarizing opinions in California and the greater United States.
Regarding the debate on economic effects of capital punishment, Newsom strongly asserts that he does not support the use of tax dollars on capital punishment. A recent study revealed that California public spending on the death penalty has amounted to around $4 billion since 1976. This is despite the fact that there have only been 13 executions.
The state's death row prisoners cost $184 million more per year than those sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What is confirmed is that California will continue to see a lack of legal executions within the next four years. The 750 current inmates on death row will potentially see a different future. His decision resulted in a distinct partisan divide in approval of his job as Governor, seeing 65% of Democrats support and 20% of Republicans.
Financial, moral and ethical factors have made capital punishment across the United States an extremely complicated and polarizing topic throughout contemporary history. However, as time has progressed, the legal system has begun to reflect the wills and wishes of its people. Time will tell whether Governor Gavin Newsom is crossing a positional boundary or pioneering a movement towards a new US legal system.