A California Supreme Court justice says the state’s death penalty system is expensive, dysfunctional, and doesn’t deliver timely justice.
Associate Justice Goodwin Liu made the comments in an opinion issued today (Thursday) after the court unanimously upheld the death sentence given Thomas Potts, who has been convicted of killing an elderly couple in 1997.
In a separate document, Liu expressed concerns about the death penalty system in California. Associate Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuellar joined him in the opinion.
Liu said a 2016 ballot measure approved by voters to speed up executions wouldn’t work without more funding.
Today’s (Thursday’s) opinion comes two weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom placed a moratorium on executions in the state. California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006.
