The end of the line for the end of the line.

Maybe?

California's death row is being dismantled.

We're in the process now pushing that population out of the row, the physical death row.

But Governor Gavin Newsom's move to empty out death row is just the Golden State's latest attempt in a long line of attempts to do away with capital punishment once and for all.

I'm Gustavo Ariano. You're listening to The Times, Daily News from the LA Times. It's Wednesday, February 16th, 2022.

Today, is Newsom's push really the end of the death penalty in California?

Pat Morrison is one of my fellow columnists at the Los Angeles Times. Pat, welcome to the Times.

Hey, Gustavo. Okay, so California's death row in San Quentin State Prison.

Biggest in the nation.

More than 700 convicts right now, right there.

All of those people are still supposedly going to get executed someday.

But now they're getting moved out.

Three years ago, Governor Newsom put a moratorium on executions.

Is this latest move related to that?

It is. It's about dismantling the country's largest death row. This is what voters voted for in

2016. At the same time, get your head around this. They ordered the state to speed up executions,

but they said, let's move the condemned to other prisons.

We want them to start working, paying reparations.

And this effectively empties out, one of the most infamous sections, or one of the most infamous prisons in the nation.

And if it seems like there was ever a moment to end the death penalty in California, it's now.

The voters want it gone, and so does Newsome. He is opposed to the death penalty in California, it's now. The voters want it gone, and so does Newsom.

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