death penalty

Before Governor Gavin Newsom halted the death penalty in California, he met with parents, like Amanda Wilcox and Marc Klaas. Both of their daughters had been murdered, and they both had two very different reactions to the temporary moratorium on capital punishment. 

Many people in the heavily Democratic Bay Area awoke, as if from a bad dream, to a new political reality Wednesday morning. 

Every Thursday through Election Day, Rose Aguilar will host a special second hour of Your Call at 11 a.m. focused on local and state elections, the voting system, and the democratic process in California.

San Quentin State Prison has four massive cell blocks, each identified by their cardinal direction: north, south, east, and west. Of the four, only one houses inmates sentenced to death. None of the cell blocks have been visited by a reporter since 2007.

In 1851, the government of the new state of California legalized executions. But it wasn’t until 1891 that the state legislature required all executions take place within the walls of one of the state’s prisons.

The state’s first legal execution by hanging took place March 3, 1893 at San Quentin State Prison. Sixty-year-old José Gabriel was convicted and sentenced to death for killing a farming couple near San Diego.

On today's Your Call, we’ll continue our election coverage with a debate on Proposition 34, which would repeal the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without parole. It would also apply retroactively to the sentences of the 725 people currently on California’s Death row. Supporters of Prop 34 say it will save the state money.  Opponents say it is not fair to victims and their family members.  Join us at 10am Pacific or post a comment here.  Do you think it's time to abolish California’s Death Penalty? It’s Your Call with Holly Kernan, and you.

On today's Your Call, we’ll talk about the history of the death penalty and the moratorium initiative on November’s ballot.  April 2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the resumption of executions in California. Since then, 13 people have been executed, costing an average of $308M each. Will California become the sixth state in the country to repeal the death penalty? Join us at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org.  What explains the nationwide shift against the death penalty?  It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and You.

Can people from different political backgrounds come together to work for prison reform? On today's Your Call, we'll have a conversation about various efforts to reform the prison system in the US. Today, 2.3 million prisoners are in US jails, costing more than $44 billion. In California, more money is spent on prisons than education. What will it take to reform the system? How are groups with different political backgrounds joining forces? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you. 

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