Today, December 10, 2002, the Marin County Board of Supervisors marked International Humans Rights day by unanimously voting to support a moratorium on executions in California while California's death penalty procedures are reviewed and evaluated. This makes Marin County the third county in California to adopt such a resolution; San Francisco and Santa Clara counties have already done so, as have eight California city councils, including East Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Nationally more than 78 local jurisdictions have passed similar resolutions.

Two supervisors arrived at the hearing today having told moratorium supporters that they had not made up their minds on the issue, but after hearing a number of eloquent appeals from local Marin residents and seeing the tremendous number of supporters of the resolution in the room, they agreed to join the call for a halt to all executions in the state of California.

Local activists from the Marin Death Penalty Moratorium Movement were delighted with the victory and agreed that the months of collecting signatures, gathering organizational endorsements, and hosting public education events had payed off. The victory was also incredibly symbolic because Marin County houses the largest death row population in the country with more than 600 men on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Congratulations Marin residents!!!