Sen. Nancy Skinner Commends Gov. Newsom’s Decision to Suspend the Death Penalty

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, D-Berkeley, issued the following statement in support of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s decision to suspend capital punishment in California:

“I strongly support Gov. Newsom’s action to suspend California’s death penalty, and I deeply respect his moral courage.

“Our criminal justice system is based on the bedrock principle that no person should ever be wrongfully convicted. And yet such wrongful convictions happen. Just last year, Vicente Benavides Figueroa was released from California’s Death Row after being behind bars for 25 years for a crime he did not commit. Unfortunately, he was not alone. Since 1976, more than 160 Death Row inmates nationwide, including five in California, have been exonerated.

“Embedded in our constitution is equal protection under the law, but the death penalty, by its very nature, undermines that principle because it can put the life of an innocent person at risk.

“Moreover, capital punishment, since its inception, has been plagued by racial bias and gross disparities. The fact is, a person of color is far more likely to be sentenced to death if they’re convicted of killing a white person. That’s unconscionable. It’s also immoral.

“Gov. Newsom has done the right thing.”