Although Carlos Moreno supports the death penalty in principle and voted to uphold more than 200 death sentences during his time as a California Supreme Court justice, he now supports Proposition 34, the November ballot measure that would repeal the death penalty in his state and change the maximum sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Moreno is primarily concerned about the lengthy process and extremely high costs of maintaining the system. With 725 inmates on their death row, the state of California spends around $184 million a year on their death penalty. He points out that most cases take decades to conclude and this takes money that California just doesn’t have. “The millions wasted on this broken system would be much better spent keeping teachers, police and firefighters on their jobs” he said.

While TADP disagrees with some of Justice Moreno’s positions, we are encouraged that he recognizes that the death penalty system is broken beyond repair and that he is willing to speak out about it. With the important voices like his speaking out, we continue to be hopeful that Prop 34 will be successful this fall.

(Photo courtesy of HispanicPro)

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