Death Penalty

In May, the California Supreme Court ruled that a suit by public defenders to confront apparent racial bias in death penalty sentencing could proceed.

Gov. Gavin Newsom gave condemned prisoners a chance to live differently when he suspended the death penalty. They aren't free and many will never be released, but now they have opportunities to grow.

A Los Angeles prosecutor likened a Black murder suspect to a Bengal tiger. Decades later, the California Supreme Court found that trope showed unacceptable racial bias.

Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed California's prison system to embrace rehabilitation for incarcerated people. Will it be a lasting shift?

Two new California Supreme Court rulings sided with prisoners contesting past gang-related charges, decisions that could affect 'three strikes' cases.

Evidence of racial bias in jury selection led Alameda County to review dozens of death penalty cases. A new district attorney is withdrawing from that effort.

A federal judge in April ordered Alameda County to review more than 30 of its death penalty convictions after evidence emerged suggesting the District Attorney’s Office blocked Black and Jewish people from serving on juries. This week, the California Supreme Court upheld a capital sentence from a trial that had no Black jurors.

San Quentin housed California’s death row for decades. Now Gov. Newsom wants the prison on San Francisco Bay to emphasize rehabilitation and helping inmates re-enter society.

Instead of outright abolition, opponents of the California death penalty are pushing legislation to limit death sentences. But the blowback to Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to dismantle Death Row at San Quentin demonstrates the political risk.

Gov. Newsom’s proposal to dismantle death row may not have as much impact on California's death penalty as other reforms.