Entries tagged with “George Gascón

Policy Issues

Arbitrariness

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Costs

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Innocence

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Race

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Sentencing Alternatives

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Recent Legislative Activity

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Nov 23, 2021

California Penal Code Committee Recommends Repealing State’s Death Penalty

The Committee on Revision of the Penal Code, cre­at­ed by the California state leg­is­la­ture to review the state’s crim­i­nal laws, has issued a report unan­i­mous­ly rec­om­mend­ing that the state repeal its death penal­ty. The six-mem­ber committee’s 39-page Death Penalty Report, released November 17, 2021, also offers inter­me­di­ate rec­om­men­da­tions for reduc­ing the size of California’s near­ly 700-per­son death row — the largest of any state in the…

Policy Issues

Representation

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United States Supreme Court

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Lethal Injection

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Apr 05, 2021

Capital Case Roundup — Death Penalty Court Decisions the Week of March 292021

NEWS (3/​31/​21) — Florida: After find­ing that Florida death-row pris­on­er William Greg Thomas was enti­tled to present an untime­ly habeas cor­pus peti­tion because his pri­or lawyer had aban­doned him, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reviewed but denied Thomas’ chal­lenge to his con­vic­tion and death sen­tence. The court held that Thomas was enti­tled to equi­table tolling of the habeas cor­pus statute of lim­i­ta­tions but ruled that his inef­fec­tive assis­tance claims were…

Facts & Research

Public Opinion

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Dec 14, 2020

New Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón Implements Sweeping Changes in Death Penalty Policy

Just hours after tak­ing office, new­ly elect­ed Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón issued a series of sweep­ing changes that end­ed new death-penal­ty pros­e­cu­tions and moved towards recon­sid­er­ing exist­ing death sen­tences in the coun­ty with the nation’s largest death row. The pol­i­cy changes sig­naled the poten­tial nation­wide impact of local pros­e­cu­tor elec­tions in 2020, as new reform pros­e­cu­tors pre­pare to take the helm in coun­ties that con­sti­tute more than…