Santa Clara County is seeing a major shift in its approach to punishment, as District Attorney Jeff Rosen has taken a concrete stand by moving to resentence 15 Death Row inmates to life without parole, according to a news release from the DA’s office. Rosen, who nixed the death penalty from his prosecutorial agenda four years ago in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, has expressed a staunch loss of faith in capital punishment as an effective means of deterring crime, calling it "fruitless" and "unfair."
The DA’s decision is not an isolated act, it comes amidst a state-wide moratorium on the death penalty, and Jeff Rosen framed it as an issue of community integrity, saying, “The question is not whether these 15 human beings deserve the death penalty, it’s whether the two million people of Santa Clara County deserve the indignity and ineffectiveness of the death penalty.” This system, he detailed, was "an antiquated, racially biased, error-prone system that deters nothing and costs us millions of public dollars," his comments obtained through the DA's office release suggest a man weary of a justice system that fails to live up to its name.
The move involves petitions to the Superior Court aiming to change the sentences from death to life behind bars with no possibility for parole, this aligns with a state law authorizing prosecutors to amend sentences no longer viewed as just. DA Rosen's stance was clear, reinforcing despite the resentence, these violent offenders would remain where they are—their crimes were heinous, the criminals still a danger, but their endless wait in limbo alongside victims' families drawn into the fray of appeals, would see an end, “Judges and juries of the People should decide where an inmate dies, God should decide when,” the DA said.
Nationally, the decision has caught the eye of social justice advocates and faith-based organizations, Bryan Stevenson, a public interest lawyer lauded Rosen's reversal “Leadership often requires that we do things because it's the right thing to do even when it may not be popular, I applaud the courage and the commitment to equality and justice that motivated this decision,” he told the DA's office. Oscar Cantú, bishop of San Jose, added to the chorus of praise by expressing support not only as a bishop but as one aligning the Catholic Church's view on the sanctity of life with Rosen's reshaping of justice—towards restoration, not just punishment, “This decision is a significant step forward in respecting the sanctity of all human life, which is a core tenet of Catholic social teaching,” Cantú's statement, reflecting the broader desire for a justice system that heals.
