California is golden

Good news from California! The California Senate has approved the creation of "the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice."

That's kind of a mouthful, huh? In short, it is a study commission. The commission will study, among other things, wrongful convictions. The commission is to conclude its business and make its report by Dec. 31, 2007 -- a year that I predict we will see a bunch of abolition and moratorium bills advancing.

Lance Lindsey is the executive director of Death Penalty Focus, NCADP's California affiliate (and also the largest membership-based organization specifically devoted to abolish the death penalty in the world). Here's what he had to say about the study commission:

"We applaud the Senate’s vision in taking this important step,” Lindsey says. "But the only way to be 100% sure that California doesn't wrongfully execute someone is to declare a ‘time out’ on executions until we know for sure whether our criminal justice is working or not."

Meanwhile, more than 630 people await execution on California’s death row.