California Governor scraps plan for ‘Cadillac death row’

May 2nd, 2011 - 10:16 pm ICT by Aishwarya Bhatt  

Sacramento, May 2 (THAINDIAN NEWS) California Governor Jerry Brown has scraped the state’s plans to build a death row facility at the San Quentin prison. The decision was criticized largely due to the state’s current struggle with its budget. The proposed structure would have cost the state $ 356 million.

Some lawmakers in the state described the proposed death row facility as “Cadillac” largely due to the amount that it was going to cost the state to build. The project has been planned since 2003.

Brown said the state cannot afford to spend such an amount on a facility when in fact the state’s budget is in trouble. The state has proposed cuts and unemployment in a bid to save the state from bankruptcy.

California has the highest number of inmates on death row in the United States. The project was planned on 50,000 square meters property. If the project had proceeded, the state was going to spend $28.5 million every year to service the debt that will result from the construction.

However if the state fail to get another death row facility, the current facilities in the state will be full by 2014.

Brown who served as the governor of the state between 1975 and 1983 is ideologically opposed to the death penalty.

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