>>> THE SLOW, STEADY OVERHAUL OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IS
CONTINUING AS STATES REVISIT
NONVIOLENT DRUG CONVICTIONS.
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT REVISES
MANDATORY SENTENCES AND FLORIDA
RESTORES EX-FELON VOTING RIGHTS.
CALIFORNIA IS JOINING THAT
CONVERSATION AS GOVERNOR GACHLSV
NEWSOM IS SET TO SIGN AN
EXECUTIVE ORDER PLACING A
MORATORIUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY
OF CALIFORNIA.
OF CALIFORNIA. THIS GIVES CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
ANOTHER LOOK.
ANOTHER LOOK. LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITAL
PUNISHMENT RIGHT NOW.
CURRENTLY THERE ARE MORE THAN
2700 DEATH ROW INMATES -- LET ME
GO BACK ONE SLIDE -- THAT’S NOT
WORKING -- THERE WE GO.
2,732 DEATH ROW INMATES
NATIONWIDE.
NATIONWIDE. OF THAT, 737 ARE IN CALIFORNIA.
NOW, NEARLY 1500 -- LET’S SWIPE
THAT, IF WE CAN.
NEARLY 1500 PREVIOUS INMATES
HAVE BEEN EXECUTED SINCE THE
DEATH PENALTY WAS REINSTATED IN
1976.
1976. OF THOSE, 13 WERE PUT TO DEATH
IN CALIFORNIA.
IN CALIFORNIA. THE LAST EXECUTION IN CALIFORNIA
TAKING PLACE IN 2006.
HOWEVER, THERE IS CONCERN ABOUT
INMATES BEING EXECUTED FOR
CRIMES THEY DIDN’T COMMIT.
ACCORDING TO THE NONPROFIT DEATH
PENALTY INFORMATION CENTER, 164
DEATH ROW INMATES HAVE BEEN
EXONERATED SINCE 1973.
164 SINCE 1973.
OF THOSE, FIVE WERE IN
CALIFORNIA.
CALIFORNIA. NOW, THE NUMBER MAY SEEM SMALL
COMPARED TO THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE
WHO ARE ON DEATH ROW, BUT I
GUESS WHEN YOU’RE TALKING ABOUT
TAKING A LIFE, BOTH OF THESE
NUMBERS SHOULD BE ABSOLUTELY
ZERO.
ZERO. NOW LET’S JUST TALK ABOUT HOW
THIS BREAKS DOWN IN THE COUNTRY.
THE SOUTH, BY FAR, EXECUTES THE
LARGEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE,
PUTTING MORE THAN 1200 TO DEATH
BETWEEN 1976 AND 2017.
HOWEVER, IF YOU THINK OF THE
DEATH PENALTY AS A DETERRENT, IT
APPARENTLY IS RELATIVELY
INEFFECTIVE BECAUSE FBI
STATISTICS SHOWS THE MURDER RATE
IN THE SOUTH IS TWICE THE MURDER
RATE IN THE NORTHEAST DESPITE
THE SOUTH MAKING UP ABOUT 80% OF
ALL EXECUTIONS.
ALL EXECUTIONS. YOU CAN PARSE THESE NUMBERS LOTS
OF DIFFERENT WAYS.
SO BEFORE SOMEBODY TWEETS ME AND
TELLS ME, YOU’RE LOOKING AT A
DIFFERENT -- THERE ARE LOTS OF
WAYS TO LOOK AT WAYS PEOPLE
EXECUTE PEOPLE THAT DON’T HAVE A
VIOLENT CRIME OR MURDER RATE.
IT’S CAUSING PEOPLE TO LOOK AT
MURDER CASES.
MURDER CASES. IT HAS DROPPED DRAMATICALLY FROM
NEARLY 320 YEARS AGO TO JUST 42
IN 2018.
IN 2018. STEPH?
STEPH? >> JOINING US NOW LAUREN BROOK
EISEN, SENIOR COUNSEL AT THE
BRENNAN CENTER FOR JUSTICE AND
AUTHOR OF INSIDE PRIVATE
PRISONS, AN AMERICAN DILEMMA IN
THE AGE OF MASS INCARCERATION.
LET’S START WITH WHAT’S
HAPPENING IN CALIFORNIA.
WHY DID THE GOVERNOR DO THIS
NOW?
NOW? >> SO THE GOVERNOR IS -- HE IS
ISSUING THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER
TODAY, AND THIS IS PART OF A
WIDER TREND IN THE NATION RIGHT
NOW.
NOW. TOWARDS MORE PROGRESSIVE, MORE
HUMANE, MORE PROGRESSIVE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE POLICIES.
WE RECENTLY SAW A BILL ON
CAPITOL HILL, FIRST STEP ACT,
THAT WAS BIPARTISAN CRIMINAL
JUSTICE REFORM.
JUSTICE REFORM. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES SIGNED THAT BILL --
>> IT WAS A REAL STAND OUT
BECAUSE THERE WAS NOTHING
BIPARTISAN GETTING DONE.
>> EXACTLY.
>> EXACTLY. THIS IS CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM.
THE LAST ELECTION OF LAST
NOVEMBER ILLUSTRATES NOTHING
OTHER THAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE
REFORM IS CERTAINLY A BIG
IMPORTANT AREA RIGHT NOW.
WHAT WE SAW IN FLORIDA, WITH
VOTERS PASSING A BALLOT
INITIATIVE --
INITIATIVE -- >> TO LET -- YEAH.
>> FELON DISENFRANCHISEMENT IN
FLORIDA IS, YOU KNOW,
TRANSFORMATIONAL CHANGE IN THIS
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. WE’VE SEEN -- WE’VE SEEN
LATINOS, BLACKS AND WOMEN
ELECTED INTO THE OFFICE OF
PROSECUTOR ACROSS THE COUNTRY.
SO THIS IS PART OF THAT WIDER
TREND.
TREND. AND THE STATISTIC THAT YOU
MENTIONED IS REALLY IMPORTANT.
SO YOU MENTIONED THAT OVER 164
PEOPLE ON DEATH ROW ACROSS THE
COUNTRY HAVE BEEN SET FREE FROM
DEATH ROW BECAUSE THEY WERE
WRONGFULLY CONVICTED.
WRONGFULLY CONVICTED. >> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. THIS IS NOT CHANGING OF THE
SENTENCE OR THINKING THE
SENTENCE WAS TOO HIGH.
IT’S YOU GOT THE WRONG PERSON,
OR YOU GOT THE PERSON FOR THE
WRONG CRIME.
WRONG CRIME. >> THERE’S A LOT OF DOUBT ABOUT
A LOT OF THE CONVICTIONS IN OUR
COUNTRY THAT HAVE RESULTED IN
THE DEATH PENALTY.
AND YOU JUST SPOKE ABOUT HOW
CALIFORNIA HAS MORE PEOPLE ON
DEATH ROW THAN ANY OTHER STATE
IN THIS COUNTRY.
FLORIDA, A SOUTHERN STATE,
HAPPENS TO HAVE THE SECOND
LARGEST DEATH ROW IN THIS
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. GOVERNOR NEWSOME IS TAKING A
STAND HERE AND HE IS SAYING, HE
SAID IN HIS EXECUTIVE ORDER, THE
DEATH PENALTY THE WAY IT IS
APPLIED THIS THIS COUNTRY IS
DISCRIMINATORY AGAINST BLACK
PEOPLE, AGAINST PEOPLE OF COLOR,
AND AGAINST A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO
SUFFER FROM MENTAL ILLNESS.
>> RIGHT.
>> RIGHT. >> AND THERE ARE A LOT OF --
>> HIGHLY DISPROPORTIONATE.
BUT IS THIS THE WAY TO DO IT?
ONE OF THE THINGS WE’RE OFTEN
CRITICAL OF WITH PRESIDENT
TRUMP -- BY THE WAY, THERE WAS A
CRITICISM OF PRESIDENT OBAMA AND
PRESIDENT CLINTON, PRESIDENT
BUSH, FOR USING EXECUTIVE ORDERS
FOR THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE
LEGISLATIVELY.
LEGISLATIVELY. IS THERE A LEGISLATIVE FIX TO
THIS THAT IS MEANT TO FOLLOW
WHAT GAVIN NEWSOM IS DOING?
>> WHAT GAVIN NEWSOM DID IS WELL
WITHIN HIS AUTHORITY AND
DISCRETION AS GOVERNOR OF THE
STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
AND, IN FACT, HE IS FOLLOWING
THE LEAD OF THREE OTHER
GOVERNORS, COLORADO, WASHINGTON
STATE, AND OREGON ALL HAVE
GOVERNOR BROWNS THAT DID THE
EXACT SAME THING.
THEY ISSUED THIS MORATORIUM ON
DEATH PENALTIES.
DEATH PENALTIES. THERE ARE 18 STATES THAT HAVE
ELIMINATED THE DEATH PENALTY
THROUGH LEGISLATION.
THROUGH LEGISLATION. AND WHAT CALIFORNIA HAS WRESTLED
WITH IS CAN THEY HAVE BALLOT
INITIATIVES IN 2012 AND 2016
THAT HAVE ASKED VOTERS TO VOTE
ON ELIMINATING THE DEATH PENALTY
IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA.
NOW, BOTH OF THOSE BALLOT
INITIATIVES HAVE ACTUALLY
FAILED.
FAILED. INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH, THE ONE IN
2016 HAPPENED RIGHT AFTER SOME
PRETTY HIGH-PROFILE SHOOTINGS IN
THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN SAN
BERNARDINO COUNTY, AND
ADDITIONALLY WHAT’S VERY
INTERESTING ABOUT THE BALLOT
INITIATIVES IN CALIFORNIA OF
2016 IS THAT VOTERS, IN FACT,
NOT ONLY DECLINED TO ELIMINATE
THE DEATH PENALTY IN CALIFORNIA,
BUT THEY VOTED TO SPEED UP THE
PROCESS.
PROCESS. AND PART OF THAT REASONING IS
BECAUSE OF THE DEATH PENALTY
PROCESS IS VERY LENGTHY, VERY
COSTLY.
COSTLY. IN FACT, CALIFORNIA ALONE HAS
SPENT MORE THAN $5 BILLION SINCE
THE MID 1970s JUST ON DEATH ROW.
>> LAUREN BROOK EISEN IS AN
AUTHOR OF THE BOOK CALLED