A federal appeals judge says California’s death-penalty system is an "illusion," according to this story tonight on the Los Angeles Times website. The whole process, from crime to execution, takes more than 17 years in that state. That’s twice the national figure.Judge Arthur L. Alarcon, who is on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, supports capital punishment but says the process is too long, according to the newspaper. To clear out the state’s death row, California would have to execute five prisoners a month for the next ten years, Judge Alarcon says.In Arizona, the process takes even longer. Our state has far fewer convicts awaiting execution, but it takes Arizona about 19 years on average to complete it, according to a letter Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas sent to the U.S. attorney general in July.Some of Alarcon’s concerns echo those of Thomas, but each man has very different ideas on how to fix it all.
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