Death Penalty Ruled Unconstitutional In California

 

death penalty
Lethal injection chamber.

A U.S. District Court judge in California ruled Wednesday that the state’s current death penalty system is unconstitutional. District Judge Cormac J. Carney delivered a ruling?in the case of Jones vs. Chappell stating?that California’s death penalty system violates the 8th Amendment’s protections against cruel and unusual punishment.


According to the ruling, the problem with California’s death penalty system lies in the fact that, out of the total number of criminals sentenced to?execution, only a?”trivial few of those sentenced to death” are actually executed. The court argues that because of this, the small few who do get executed are often done so?on an inconsistent and arbitrary basis. Beyond that, the inconsistency of the system removes any “penological purpose” that the system might have, making?it?ineffective in deterring crime or punishing offenders.

The ruling states:

“Inordinate and unpredictable delay… has resulted in a system in which arbitrary factors, rather than legitimate ones like the nature of the crime or the date of the death sentence, determine whether an individual will actually be executed. And it has resulted in a system that serves no penological purpose. Such a system is unconstitutional.”

The death penalty has been a contentious topic in California’s legal history. It was ruled unconstitutional by the state’s Supreme Court?in 1976, but the state’s legislature reinstated capital punishment the next year.?Despite over 900 people being sentenced in California?since 1978, only 13 have been executed, with an average wait time of about 17 years after sentencing.


While there is sure to be more court action regarding this case in the months to come, California’s death penalty system is put on hold for now, and the petitioner’s death sentence in this case has been vacated.

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H/T Huffington Post

Thomas Leger is a college student at Sam Houston State University.