Judge Rules California's Death Penalty Unconstitutional

[Content Note: Death penalty.]

Wowwwwwww:
A federal judge in Orange County ruled Wednesday that California's death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution's ban on cruel and unusual punishment.

U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney, ruled on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones, who was sentenced to die nearly two decades ago.

Carney said the state's death penalty has created long delays and uncertainty for inmates, most of whom will never be executed [and] the delays have created 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," Carney said.

In overturning Jones' death sentence, Carney noted that the inmate faced "complete uncertainty as to when, or even whether" he will be executed.

The "random few" who will be executed "will have languished for so long on Death Row that their execution will serve no retributive or deterrent purpose and will be arbitrary," Carney said.
That? Is amazing.

Who is this RADICAL LIBERAL ACTIVIST JUDGE, anyway?!
Carney [is] an appointee of former President George W. Bush.
Welp.

Shakesville is run as a safe space. First-time commenters: Please read Shakesville's Commenting Policy and Feminism 101 Section before commenting. We also do lots of in-thread moderation, so we ask that everyone read the entirety of any thread before commenting, to ensure compliance with any in-thread moderation. Thank you.

blog comments powered by Disqus