Can California Still Afford the Death Penalty?
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With 713 inmates, San Quentin's Death Row is overcrowded. Appeals take so long that more die from illness, suicide or old age than from lethal injection. It costs $90,000 more every year to house a condemned inmate than one sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Today, it's reported that the state won't even try to conduct an execution at least until next year. Is it time to try something new? Also, big bonuses for LA city workers. On our rebroadcast of today's To the Point, the JSOC and the Killing of Osama bin Laden.
Banner image: The cause of death is listed as 'lethal injection' on a copy of the death certificate of executed killer Manny Babbitt January 12, 2005 on the steps of the California State building in San Francisco. Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Making News
City Employees Rake in $150 Million Annually in Bonuses ()
Mayor Villaraigosa put bonuses for city workers at the top of his list for saving money. That was in 2006. Since then, the rising cost of retirement benefits has become a big issue. But few city officials know that bonuses add up to more than $150 million, nearly half the $350 million deficit. That according to Daily News staff writer Kerry Cavanaugh.
Guests:
- Kerry Cavanaugh: Los Angeles Daily News, @kerrycavan
Main Topic
Can California Still Afford the Capital Punishment? ()
Since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976, thirteen condemned inmates have been executed in California. At least 56 have died from illness, suicide or natural causes. No less than 713 now live on Death Row, and last week, Governor Brown cancelled a $356 million plan to build a new facility. Now his Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation has put off any further attempt at an execution at least until next year.
Guests:
- Carol Williams: Los Angeles Times, @cjwilliamslat
- Michael Rushford: Criminal Justice Legal Foundation
- Natasha Minsker: ACLU of California
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Main Topic
JSOC and the Killing of Osama bin Laden ()
A photograph from the Obama White House shows the President, Vice President, Secretaries of State and Defense, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other aides watching in rapt attention as the raid on Osama bin Laden's hideout takes place. Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan called it an "anxiety-filled" moment, but it's also a demonstration of state-of-the-art technology used by JSOC, the highly secretive Joint Special Operations Command. We hear about the death of bin Laden, and benefits and the risks of high-tech, high-risk anti-terrorism compared to the long slog of counter-insurgency?.
Guests:
- Marc Ambinder: National Journal
- Kimberly Dozier: Associated Press, @KimberlyDozier
- Kalev Sepp: Naval Postgraduate School
- Conrad Crane: Army War College's Military History Institute
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Underwriters
Which Way L.A.? is made possible in part by the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation, which supports study and research into policy issues of the Los Angeles region.
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