The Fresno Bee: "No room for sloppiness"
In a preliminary decision just made public recently, U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel handed down a detailed and scathing critique of the way California carries out its death penalty.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has, to its credit, responded constructively. The governor has directed his legal affairs secretary to work with the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to correct the many serious deficiencies Fogel identified.
The case before the court had nothing to do with whether the death penalty makes sense morally or as a matter of policy. The question, as outlined by the judge, was more narrow: "Does California's lethal-injection protocol - as actually administered in practice - create an undue and unnecessary risk that an inmate will suffer pain so extreme that it offends the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishing?"
In ruling that it does, Fogel described in detail the shockingly careless way in which California carries out the state's ultimate punishment.
During the course of his examination, Fogel visited San Quentin Prison, where California's executions are carried out. There he examined the state's gas chamber, which has been jury-rigged to serve as the site of executions by lethal injection. Holes have been drilled in the chamber walls to accommodate the intravenous lines through which lethal drugs are administered.
The drugs used in the executions are in bags suspended from hooks at the top of the chamber. The bags are hung so high it's impossible for the execution team to know whether the equipment is working properly.
The execution team is untrained in the administration of drugs. One team member, the judge noted, was disciplined for smuggling illegal drugs into San Quentin. Other team members admitted that they failed to follow the simple directions provided by the manufacturer of the anesthetic used to ensure that condemned inmates are unconscious before excruciatingly painful lethal drugs are administered. ...
No matter whether one supports or opposes the death penalty - and we support it - California's administration of it has been disgraceful. Before the state executes another person, it needs to be fixed.
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Dec. 22
San Francisco Chronicle: "Prison reform is back"
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's reform proposal marks a significant step forward from what he had previously put on the table for discussion.
Until now, Schwarzenegger's reform plans had emphasized prison construction - even as he rejected obvious ways to reduce the prison population.
His latest plan still includes $4 billion for prison construction, and billions more for cells in county jails. But it also includes other urgently needed measures that have a real chance to reduce the number of inmates held at unnecessary expense to the taxpayer.
A major breakthrough is his endorsement of a commission to propose reforms of California's sentencing laws that have packed our prisons to double their capacity. Another sound proposal is trying to help the often ignored and underfunded county probation departments that are supposed to supervise some 360,000 offenders.
The sentencing commission and bolstering the probation system are proposals we endorsed months ago. Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez has also said he is committed to sentencing reform. There is no reason we can see why the sentencing commission should not be up and running within a few months.
One blind spot is Schwarzenegger's ongoing refusal to consider reforming California's three-strikes law. His spokesman told us Thursday he believes the law "has been critical to reducing California's crime rate" - even though many states without similar laws have seen an even larger drop in crime.
Nonetheless, Schwarzenegger's plan represents an opportunity to begin to fix our prison system. It should not be the final word - but it is a good place to start.
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