Executions in Calif. remain stalled

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration is trying to break 2-year-old legal logjam created when a federal judge stopped executions in the state.

Since the December 2006 ruling, the 680 prisoners on California's death row have had an uncertain future. Schwarzenegger's administration says it's willing to let the public comment on proposed new procedures for executing convicts, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Sunday.

"We believe this to be the most expeditious way to carry out the will of the people and allow California to resume capital punishment," said Seth Unger, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The newspaper reported that public opinion polls indicate most Californians support the death penalty, although that majority has been shrinking.

In light of a state commission's recent assessment that capital punishment costs California $137 million a year, "this pause in executions has allowed for political leaders to scrutinize whether the state of California can afford the death penalty," said Lance Lindsey, executive director of the anti-capital punishment group Death Penalty Focus.

U.S. District Judge Jeremy Fogel imposed a moratorium on executions amid concerns that poorly trained execution staff and a dimly lit execution chamber posed risks of violating the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment, the newspaper reported.