Governor stops death penalty, says it's 'a FAILED system'
Governor Gavin Newsom imposed a moratorium on carrying out the death penalty in California on Wednesday, granting a reprieve to 737 condemned inmates -- the largest death row population in the United States.
"The death penalty has been an abject failure. It discriminates based on the color of your skin or how much money you make," he told a news conference. "It's ineffective, irreversible, and immoral."
"It goes against the very values that we stand for -- which is why California is putting a stop to this failed system."
Newsom, a Democrat who took office in January, has been a staunch opponent of the death penalty, last carried out in California in 2006.
In a tweet, President Donald Trump denounced the decision as a slap in the face for victims and their families.
"Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers," he said. "Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!"
Newsom said that as he spoke, the execution chamber at California's San Quentin State Prison was being dismantled and stressed that his order -- which stands as long as he is governor -- does not mean that any inmates already on death row would be released.
"Those people are not going to be let out by this act, they will be held to account," he said. "We don't want to join Saudi Arabia... North Korea. We don't want to be part of what is happening in Iran, in Iraq, China, Somalia, Pakistan and Egypt.
"Those are the countries -- those last 5 -- that join the US in executing more of their citizens than any other nations on Planet Earth."
In a tweet, President Donald Trump denounced the decision as a slap in the face for victims and their families.
"Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers," he said. "Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!"
Newsom said that as he spoke, the execution chamber at California's San Quentin State Prison was being dismantled and stressed that his order -- which stands as long as he is governor -- does not mean that any inmates already on death row would be released.
"Those people are not going to be let out by this act, they will be held to account," he said. "We don't want to join Saudi Arabia... North Korea. We don't want to be part of what is happening in Iran, in Iraq, China, Somalia, Pakistan and Egypt.
"Those are the countries -- those last 5 -- that join the US in executing more of their citizens than any other nations on Planet Earth."
READ MORE AT: Jocelyne Zablit, Agence France-Presse (2019). California suspends death penalty. Posted at Mar 14 2019 07:34 AM. https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/03/14/19/california-suspends-death-penalty
