Gov. Newsom halts executions, citing ‘moral necessity’

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced a halt to the death penalty in California. Photo credit: Josh Thompson [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Governor Gavin Newsom today announced a halt to the death penalty in California. The state has a complicated history with the death penalty. Voters have repeatedly upheld it at the ballot box, most recently with two propositions in 2016. But the state hasn’t executed anyone in more than a decade.