Brown ends construction of new death row

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Gov. Jerry Brown has put a halt to plans for a $356-million construction project that would have created a new home at San Quentin prison for California’s condemned inmates.

‘At a time when children, the disabled and seniors face painful cuts to essential programs, the State of California cannot justify a massive expenditure of public dollars for the worst criminals in our state,’ Brown said in a news release Thursday afternoon.

The new housing unit would have provided room for 1,152 inmates, but California currently has fewer than 700 inmates awaiting execution, according to the governor’s office.

Canceling the construction plans will save the state’s general fund $28.5 million per year, the money it would have cost to finance the construction loan, the governor’s office said.

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-- Jack Dolan in Sacramento