Professor Lawrence Marshall is quoted about the need for death penalty reform in a letter to the Editor of the Daily Journal by the Vice Chairman of the California Commission on Fair Administration of Justice Jon B. Streeter:

Marshall testified that we are now at a crossroads with the death penalty in California, and if we are unwilling to pay for the kind of system that is needed to handle capital punishment in a manner that comports fully with our core values of due process and equal protection, it may be that the citizens should be asked the ultimate question: Is the death penalty a luxury we cannot afford?