In 2019, California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the state’s death penalty system a failure and issued an executive order halting executions. His order — and the sight of the lethal injection gurney and the gas chamber chair being driven away from San Quentin State Prison — left the impression that capital punishment in California was all but dead.
It is not: There are 546 men and 18 women who could still face execution in the state. While some states have gotten rid of the death penalty, and others carry out regular executions, California has ended up with a bloated, dysfunctional system…..
