California death penalty unconstitutional, federal judge rules

San Jose Mercury News - In a decision that could wipe California's death penalty off the books, a Los Angeles federal judge has declared the state's capital punishment law unconstitutional because of the decades death row inmates must inevitably wait before execution.

Calling the state's death penalty system "dysfunctional" and beyond repair, U.S. District Judge Cormac Carney concluded...read more.  Read more.