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California Voters Set To Weigh In On State's Death Penalty

Death row inmate Joseph Perez in a San Quentin exercise cage. He was sentenced to death for helping to kill a Contra Costa County housewife with two others in 1998. Perez denies his guilt, but is afraid he’ll die at San Quentin, if not from execution than old age. (Saul Gonzalez/KCRW)
Death row inmate Joseph Perez in a San Quentin exercise cage. He was sentenced to death for helping to kill a Contra Costa County housewife with two others in 1998. Perez denies his guilt, but is afraid he’ll die at San Quentin, if not from execution than old age. (Saul Gonzalez/KCRW)

According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, public support for the death penalty is near a 50-year low in the United States, with just under half of Americans now supporting capital punishment.

When they go to the polls next month, Californians will have a choice between ending their state’s death penalty, or keeping it with some changes. It’s a big issue in a state that has the largest number of people on death row in the country.

Saul Gonzalez from Here & Now contributor KCRW went to California’s San Quentin Prison to talk with men on death row about life behind bars.

Reporter

Saul Gonzalez, reporter and producer at KCRW in Los Angeles. He tweets @SaulKCRW.

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