California does not forbid the execution of the mentally...

California does not forbid the execution of the mentally retarded but does forbid the execution of juvenile offenders. The state has life without parole. A jury decides the sentence. The Governor has the exclusive authority to grant clemency, unless the prisoner has twice been convicted of a felony. In that case, a recommendation of the State Supreme Court with four justices concurring is necessary. There have been no clemencies granted since the Furman case. In September 2000, Governor Gray Davis signed into a law a bill that will allow DNA testing to exonerate prisoners who claim they were wrongly convicted.
There are more than 580 inmates on California's death row, the largest in the nation.