WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — California’s death penalty system should be abolished as it is costly and dysfunctional, Equal Justice USA Co-Director Shari Silberstein told Sputnik.
“So many people on death row in California don't have an attorney, and the long backlog makes the process random…It's time to end this charade once and for all, and we hope that the Nineth Circuit will recognize the wisdom of Judge Carney’s ruling,” Silberstein said on Wednesday.
Silberstein explained the ruling confirms that the death penalty is “exorbitantly costly, unfairly applied, and serves no legitimate purpose.”
“In California, a bipartisan commission called the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice (CCFAJ), headed by former Attorney General John Van de Kamp, concluded that the death penalty in California was highly dysfunctional,” she added.
Capital punishment is currently allowed in 31 US states, and abolished in 19 states.
Since 1976, 1413 people have been executed in the United States.
