Newsom called the death penalty "a failure" that "has discriminated against defendants who are mentally ill, black and brown, or can't afford expensive legal representation." Since California's last execution, its death row population has grown to house one of every four condemned inmates in the United States. More than six in 10 condemned California inmates are minorities, which his office cited as proof of racial disparities in who is sentenced to die. Since 1973, five California inmates who were sentenced to death were later exonerated, his office said. Seventy-nine condemned California inmates have died of natural causes since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1978.

Source: ABC News March 13, 2019 04:15 UTC