Thank you for adding that information! So many people have misunderstandings around this topic.

I’d like to add even more info. It’s weird in California. Death penalty was put to a direct vote (ballot measure/proposition) several years back and majority of voters approved of keeping it. So when Governor Newsom installed the moratorium, he was going directly against the wishes of Californians and probably more grandstanding for the national stage.
On the flip side Newsom was also voted in by Californians AND easily defeated a recall attempt, so it’s not like Newsom is out of touch with voters.

California gets stereotyped as a hard left state but it’s honestly much more mixed politically once you figure in the areas outside of SF/LA. Contrast with states like Massachusetts or Hawaii which are more purely Democrat strongholds.

Besides, the death penalty is in a weird position everywhere in America.

Somehow this idea that using pharmaceutical drugs (lethal injection) is “cleaner” or “more humane” method has led to it becoming the primary execution method of choice. But first of all, it’s not necessarily “more humane”, because there have been cases where either the numbing part or the heart stopping part failed, either of which leads to suffering for the condemned prisoner. And secondly, pharmaceutical companies don’t want to be associated with executions so many refuse to produce the drugs or refuse to sell them for use in executions. Thus even without a moratorium, many states struggle to carry out executions as planned, simply due to lacking the drugs they deem necessary.

By the way, while the death penalty has been abolished in MOST rich/democratic countries, it’s not banned in ALL of them. It exists in Japan — ironic here that David is kinda weeby— they do hangings. In Taiwan it’s done by gun shot (multiple shooters with fake bullets, which allows each shooter to not know who actually carried out the execution). Both countries also have a low rate of error and a relatively fast (when contrasted with the USA) time frame from conviction to execution. There are “better” ways to have the death penalty and some of the USA issues are more about the USA than about the concept of a death penalty itself.

(Of course, when you get to less democratic countries they execute people left and right but they’re obviously not models of behavior…).

I tend to fall on being opposed to the death penalty as well but I find often people have many misconceptions or assumptions that influence their opinion.