Double or Quits for the Death Penalty in California

More than 100 popular legislative initiatives have already been registered in California with the intention of voting on them in a year’s time; they coincide with the U.S. presidential election. In the particular system of Californian direct democracy, the first major electoral duel is not between Democrats or Republicans (in California it will be a Democrat no matter what), but a double or quits debate on the death penalty.

For days, signatures have been collected for a proposal to abolish the death penalty. To assure ballot placement, 366,000 signatures are needed. The proposal is being distributed on behalf of a group of activists against the death penalty led by Mike Farrell, known for the TV series “M.A.S.H.” According to Farrell, abolishing the death penalty in California would save the state $150 million annually. The death penalty would be replaced by life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. The offender would be forced to work, and 60 percent of the salary would be used for victim restitution. In 2012, a similar initiative failed by just 4 percentage points: 48 percent to 52 percent of the vote.

Using the same argument of saving the state money, a group of death penalty supporters — including prosecutors and victims — has presented its own proposal that advocates a streamlining of the process by cutting time and reinforcing lawyer shifts in order to speed up processes. According to proponents, the time from conviction to execution would be reduced to 10 or 15 years. The proposal points out that among all those sentenced to death in California are those responsible for having killed more than 1,000 people, including 229 children and 43 policemen; 235 of the victims were raped and 90 were tortured. This proposal is still in the legal phase prior to the gathering of signatures.

California reinstated the death penalty in 1978 by a voter initiative, and it can thus only be abolished by the same method. Since then, 900 people have been convicted, and [only] 13 of them have been executed. There are 748 prisoners on death row. So, the question is: Stop condemning or start executing? The voters will decide.