Poll finds Californians support the death penalty — and Newsom's moratorium on executions

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Californians narrowly support Gov. Gavin Newsom's moratorium on death row executions but they oppose abolishing the death penalty outright, a new poll shows.

The findings offer some political affirmation for the Democratic governor who, after calling the death penalty immoral and unjust, stirred up controversy in March by issuing temporary reprieves to more than 700 inmates on death row.

Conducted for the Los Angeles Times by UC Berkeley's Institute for Governmental Studies, the poll found that 52% of California voters backed Newsom's decision to grant a blanket reprieve to all condemned inmates on death row, compared with 48% who opposed the governor's action.

The partisan divide was substantial, with 72% of Democrats supporting