The California Assembly Public Safety Committee is holding a hearing on SB 490, East Bay State Senator Loni Hancock's bill to abolish the death penalty in California.
(Update 12:55 p.m. The hearing is over. The California Channel provides an archive here.)
You can read the bill here.
Many of the arguments currently being made against the death penalty have to do with cost. A recent study by U.S. 9th Circuit Judge Arthur L. Alarcon and Loyola Law School professor Paula M. Mitchell found the state has spent more than $4 billion on capital punishment since it was reinstated in 1978. Seven hundred and fourteen prisoners currently reside on death row, but just thirteen have been executed since reinstatement.
To learn more about how we use your information, please read our privacy policy.