Judge Cormac J. Carney of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California ruled on a petition by death row inmate Ernest Dewayne Jones, who was sentenced to die nearly two decades ago. The judge concluded that California’s death penalty violates the U.S. Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment because the state’s implementation of the death penalty has created long delays and uncertainty for inmates.
The history of the death penalty in California has been riddled with legal challenges. The current law was based on Proposition 7, passed in 1978. California put a moratorium on the death penalty in 2006 and hasn’t executed anyone since. There are currently 748 people on death row. The male prisoners are held at San Quentin State Prison. Female prisoners are locked up in a maximum-security unit at Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla.
The case is expected to be appealed by prosecutors to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.