California Supreme Court Rejects Bid to Overhaul Death Penalty

An inmate at the Mule Creek State Prison sits on his bunk bed in a gymnasium that was modified to house prisoners in Ione, Calif., on Aug. 28, 2007. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The California Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the state’s current death penalty law, dismissing an attempt to make it harder to impose a sentence.

Under the current system, jurors do not need to unanimously agree on specific aggravating factors used to justify handing an individual a death sentence. The court upheld the longstanding practice in a 7-0 decision.