EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
Executive Order N-09-19
WHEREAS,
California's
death
penalty
system
is
unfair, unjust, wasteful,
protracted
and
does
not
make
our state safer.
WHEREAS,
the
state's
bedrock
responsibility
to
ensure
equal
justice
under
the
law
applies
to
all
people
no
matter
their
race,
mental
ability,
where
they
live, or
how
much
money
they
have.
WHEREAS,
death
sentences are unevenly
and
unfairly
applied
to
people
of
color,
people
with
mental
disabilities,
and
people
who
cannot
afford
costly
legal representation.
WHEREAS,
innocent
people
have
been
sentenced
to
death
in
California. Moreover,
the
National
Academy
of
Sciences estimates
that
as
many
as
one
in
25
people
sentenced
to
death
in the United States
is
likely
innocent.
WHEREAS,
since
1978,
California has spent
$5
billion
on
a
death
penalty
system
that
has
executed
13
people.
WHEREAS,
no
person has
been
executed
since 2006
because
California's
execution protocols
have
not
been
lawful. Yet
today
,
25
California
death
row
inmates
have
exhausted all
of
their state
and
federal
appeals
and
could
be
eligible for
an
execution
date.
WHEREAS,
I will
not
oversee execution
of
any
person while Governor.
NOW,
THEREFORE,
I, GAVIN
NEWSOM,
Governor
of
the
State
of
California,
in
accordance
with
the
authority vested
in
me
by
the
Constitution
and
statutes
of
the State
of
California,
do
hereby
issue
the
following
order
to
become
effective
immediately:
IT
IS
HEREBY
ORDERED
THAT:
1.
An
executive
moratorium
on
the
death
penalty
sha
ll
be
instituted in
the
form
of
a reprieve tor all
people
sentenced
to
death
in
California.
This
moratorium does
not
provide
for
the
release
of
any
person from prison
or
otherwise alter
any
current
conviction
or sentence.
2.
California's lethal injection
protocol
shall
be
repealed.
3.
The
Death
Chamber
at
San Quentin shall
be
immediately
closed in light
of
the
foregoing.
IT
IS
FURTHER
ORDERED
that
as soon as
hereafter
possible, this Order shall
be
filed with
the
Office
of
the
Secretary
of
State
and
that
widespread
publicity
and
notice
shall
be
given
to
this Order.
This
Order
is
not
intended
to,
and
does not,
create
any
rights
or
benefits,
substantive
or
procedural,
enforceable
at
law
or
in equity, against the State
of
California,
its
departments, agencies, or
other
entities,
its
officers or employees
or
any
other
person.
Governor
of
California
ATTEST:
ALEX
PADILLA
Secretary
of
State
