On Friday, Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced that the Death Penalty Repeal initiative is eligible for the November 8, 2016, General Election ballot.
According to the summary of the initiative, California voters will decide whether to repeal the death penalty and replace it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The measure also requires convicted murderers to work in prison and increases to 60 percent the amount of wages from that work that would flow into a victims’ restitution fund.
California has not executed a death row inmate since 2006 due to ongoing legal challenges.
he Attorney General’s official title and summary of the initiative is as follows:
DEATH PENALTY. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Repeals death penalty as maximum punishment for persons found guilty of murder and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Applies retroactively to persons already sentenced to death. States that persons found guilty of murder and sentenced to life without possibility of parole must work while in prison as prescribed by the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Increases to 60% the portion of wages earned by persons sentenced to life without the possibility of parole that may be applied to any victim restitution fines or orders against them. Summary of estimate by Legislative Analyst and Director of Finance of fiscal impact on state and local government: Net reduction in state and local government costs of potentially around $150 million annually within a few years due to the elimination of the death penalty. (15-0066.)
The proponent of this initiative is Mike Farrell, former M*A*S*H star who needed 365,880 valid petition signatures, which is equal to five percent of the total votes cast for governor in the November 2014 General Election. The initiative needed at least 402,468 projected valid signatures to qualify by random sampling, and it exceeded that threshold today.
On June 30, 2016, the Secretary of State will certify the initiative as qualified for the November 8, 2016 General Election ballot, unless the proponent withdraws the initiative prior to that date pursuant to Elections Code section 9604(b).
5 comments
Wonderful. As one of the more progressive states, California must get out of state sanctioned murder. It is not a deterrence. If it were, there would be no murders. Yet, hardly a day goes by without a report of some one taking the life of another. Life in prison without parole is much more effective. Lock ’em up, throw away the key.
From the perspective of someone who worked as a corrections officer on death row in San Quentin in the 80’s and for the heinous crimes these sadistic individuals have committed they deserve to pay the ultimate penalty for their actions. To give these individuals life in prison is NOT justice for the murdered victims or their families.
Sadly, I won’t be surprised if you bleeding heart liberals disagree.
California continues to speed to the bottom. There is a need for the death penalty. Some murderers actually ask for it. Sadly liberals want to impose their soft (everyone just needs a hug) views on our state. We are laughed at by citizens from every other state. Wonder why? We are a freaking joke.
Every day I hear neighbors saying, it’s time to leave CA. Overtaxed, under kept and over populated. Maybe a mass exodus will be best for everyone. Then and only then will people realize just how bad it has become.
This is no longer the golden state. It’s sad to see what it has become.
Take the $150,000,000 annual savings and shift that money to the victims families as restitution for taking care of and accommodating for the lives of these killers. Money can not replace the life lost but can provide free therapy for the family living with the thoughts the killer is still enjoying the little things prison life brings.
I’m in favor of the death penalty (even though I don’t think it’s a deterrent). As a moderate, I’m okay with life in prison without parole or the death penalty. The death penalty isn’t cost effective (appeals) but I hope it stays in place. In CA, a death sentence is life in prison and the death penalty. It’s costing the taxpayers, but these criminals have to sit and think about what they’ve done and then the needle. CA takes way to long.
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