(Jerry) Brown cancels plans to build new death row

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

(04-28) 12:35 PDT Sacramento - --

Gov. Jerry Brown announced today that he is dropping plans to build a new $356 million Death Row at San Quentin because of the state's budget crisis.

In a released statement, Brown said canceling the project - which has been in the works since 2003 - would save the state hundreds of millions of dollars. He said spending that money on a new Death Row while making budget cuts in other services would be "unconscionable."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/28/BADO1J99T1.DTL

[Book Lover]

1. Thank you, Governor (nm)

[shanti]

12. and one. n/t

[musiclawyer]

2. good

abolish the death penalty THAT is fiscally conservative as well as the moral thing to do

[alp227]

3. i was about to say that because of the lengthy appeals process

for example, the execution of Albert Greenwood Brown, who was convicted of murder and rape in 1982, has been indefinitely delayed from September 2010 because of a shortage of lethal injection material. And of course as attorney general and governor candidate, Jerry Brown could not look "soft on crime" and that's why he had to uphold the execution; it took a federal judge to stay the execution. Kinda like how presidential candidate Bill Clinton didn't intervene in the execution of Ricky Ray Rector in 1992 (as Arkansas governor).

[Spinny Liberal]

4. I love me some Jerry

We can't pay for the prisons we have now, let alone building shiny new death rows.

[EFerrari]

5. Awesome.

:)

[MineralMan]

6. Good Job, Jerry!

[sasha031]

7. California is very lucky to have him

[Gregorian]

8. I wish he'd run for president

Great news Jerry.

[defendandprotect]

15. He did!! -- but think he should go again!!!

[Gregorian]

17. I thought so. But it slipped my mind.

Moonbeams. That was long time ago.

edit- That was another Rovian smear. It probably goes back to John Quincy Adams.

[defendandprotect]

19. Brown did a hell of a job -- Remember "We the People" campaign ... ??

[Gregorian]

21. No, I don't remember that. Not much on the net, either.

I just did a quick search. All I can say is people like Jerry Brown are the only ones who deserve to represent us. The guy is truly dedicated.

[defendandprotect]

25. Back then ....

proud to say, I was a delegate for him!

:)

[Canuckistanian]

9. Why doesn't he just abolish the death penalty?

That would save countless $millions and bring CA into the 20th century in terms of justice?

The death penalty is a freakish throwback to the days of tribal death retributions.

[former9thward]

10. He does not have that power.

The legislature would have to do that.

[Canuckistanian]

11. Can governors not sponsor bills in CA?

Or even work with party leaders to get legislation passed? I find that hard to believe.

[former9thward]

16. Yes, he certainly could do that.

I doubt many in the legislature would want to take up that issue at the present time though.

[alp227]

23. in 1972 the voters of CA passed Prop 17 to return DP to state constitution

following a state Supreme Court case ruling California v. Anderson that the DP was unconstitutional. That case commuted the death sentences of everyone in death row including Charles Manson.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

32. It would be a waste of time and political capital

Even if it were abolished it would be restored by ballot initiative the next election, as it has been before.

[Parker CA]

13. Great news. Go Jerry!!

[defendandprotect]

14. Go Jerry Brown --- now let's also overturn death penalty everywhere!!

[jerseyjack]

18. Goddam Bleeding Heart Librul

Stop all appeals and juice 'em within 60 days and you won't need a new lock-up :sarcasm:


700 on death row already? WTF?

[customerserviceguy]

20. So, is this good news or bad news for death row inmates?

Do they live in crumbling conditions, most of them for the rest of their natural lives, since California rarely carries out the DP?

[CreekDog]

27. Our prison cells are newer than our classrooms

Priorities!

[Merlot]

22. Thank you Gov Brown

Next up, sign SB810 and we're all good.

[Le Taz Hot]

29. And SB676 while he's at it.

(Assuming it passes the legislature and since it's passed twice already and was vetoed by 2 Republican governors, no reason to believe it won't go up a third time.)

[mulsh]

24. How come his predecessor couldn't do this? oh yea it was

dergopenfuerer's pet project. I enjoy making my repub friends and relatives squirm a bit when ever Brown "pulls a stunt like this." These stunts are small moves that save us hundreds of millions of dollars. Those people hate Brown. but the also hate when I remind them that he bailed CA out of the financial morass Reagan left this state in when he termed out.

Everything he's canceled, state employee's cell phones, state provided cars and now this is something that could have been just as easily done by his fiscally conservative predecessor.

[KamaAina]

26. Yessssss!!!!!

Still a drop in the bucket (budget gap still at $12-13B), but every little bit helps.

Come to think of it, antiquated San Quentin sits on nearly a square mile of prime Marin County bayfront real estate, for which developers would pay $$$millions if they ever had the chance.

[bemildred]

28. +1. nt

[mountainlion55]

30. Repeat after me Jerry

Legalize Cannabis! You could save us billions. Oh and thanks for this action you took.:think:

[goodnews]

31. I always suspected he was soft on crime. nt