California Revives The Death Penalty

After 25 years, San Quentin prepares to execute a murderer

THE LAST TIME A PRISONER DIED IN SAN QUENTIN'S gas chamber, Ronald Reagan was Governor of California. But Governor Pete Wilson's rejection of an appeal for clemency by Robert Alton Harris may end the long hiatus. Harris, 39, was convicted in 1979 of shooting two San Diego teenagers to death. Prosecutors told the jury that Harris taunted the victims before they died, laughed at them after he pulled the trigger, then calmly ate the hamburgers they had bought for lunch. Said Wilson: "The decision of the jury was correct."

Harris' execution was scheduled for this week but may be delayed by...

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