This week, Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, signed an executive order issuing a reprieve to all seven hundred and thirty-seven prisoners on the state’s death row, effectively nullifying California’s policy of capital punishment for the near future. The moratorium, which builds on Newsom’s record of death-penalty opposition, was acknowledged on both sides of the political aisle as a bold move: “an important day for justice,” as Kamala Harris put it , or a declaration of “the terrible message that the taking of innocent life will not be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” as Pat Bates, a Republican state senator from Orange County, said . Eventually, the President felt moved to address the issue. “Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!” he tweeted . This aimless response, at once grousing and lukewarm, seemed its own testament to the order’s success. In truth, the boldness of Newsom’s reprieve may be a little over...
Striving for a World without Capital Punishment