Written by Andrew Morris<\/p>\n
Governor Newsom has announced his plan to dismantle California\u2019s death row prisons this week in light of his mandatory three year old suspension on executions, in addition to a 16 year period without such executions.<\/span><\/p>\n Specifically, Newsom seeks to refashion San Quentin State Prison\u2019s death row ward into a \u201cpositive, healing environment\u201d for inmates that have had significant pressure over many years due to their circumstances.<\/span><\/p>\n Such high-security prison wards are quite expensive to run independent from other systems, especially considering the low number of prisoners and high statutory regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe are starting the process of closing death row to repurpose and transform the current housing units into something innovative and anchored in rehabilitation,\u201d states California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation\u2019s Vicky Waters.<\/span><\/p>\n Others like the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation supported the motion. \u201cThe underlying motive of the administration is to mainstream as many of these condemned murderers as possible,\u201d CJLF president Michael Rushford commented. He added that, \u201cour objective was to speed up the process,\u201d in this case, but noted that the victims were not happy with these decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n