Pennsylvania governor suspends "error-prone" death penalty

HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Newly elected Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has imposed a moratorium on the death penalty in the state, calling the current system of capital punishment "error-prone, expensive and anything but infallible."

Wolf said Friday the moratorium will remain in effect at least until he receives a report from a legislative commission that's been studying the topic for about four years.

Pennsylvania has 183 men and three women on death row.

The state has only executed three people since the U.S. Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976, the last one in 1999.

All three had voluntarily given up their appeals.

The Democrat's moratorium announcement fulfilled one of his campaign promises. He had said during his fall race against Republican Gov. Tom Corbett that he intended to issue such an order.

According to a Reading Eagle analysis, the state's capital punishment system has cost taxpayers at least $350 million.