SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom plans to transform San Quentin State Prison, a facility in the San Francisco Bay Area known for maintaining the highest number of prisoners on death row in the country.
The goal is to turn it into a site where inmates can be rehabilitated and receive job training before returning to society.
The state hasn't executed inmates for years, and the Democratic governor issued a moratorium on the death penalty in 2019.
But nearly 700 prisoners remain on death row today.
The announcement marks a massive shift in how the state could shape the fate of prisoners in the criminal justice system.