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Subscribe to RSSCalifornia voters will decide whether to abolish the death penalty this November, the Silicon Valley Mercury News reported. A group in favor of doing away with the nation’s largest death row gathered more than 800,000 signatures –- enough to put capital punishment on the ballot.
Death would be replaced with life in prison without possibility of parole, according to the Mercury News. Inmates currently on death row would live out life in prison instead.
"It's a proposition whose time has come," measure proponent Jeanne Woodford, a former San Quentin State Prison warden, told reporters Monday morning, according to the Mercury News.
Abolishing the death penalty could save California tens of millions of dollars, which could be redirected to solving rape and murder cases, Woodford said. Woodford, who oversaw four executions as warden, now heads Death Penalty Focus, which opposes the death penalty.
The measure is supported by the American Civil Liberties Union and some law enforcement and victims rights groups, the Sacramento Bee reported.
The death penalty was reinstated in California in 1978. Since then, 13 people have been executed, according to Death Penalty Focus. The Los Angeles Times reported that $4 billion has been spent to administer capital punishment –- about $308 million per execution.
California has been moving in this direction for several years. In 2006, a U.S. District Court judge halted all executions out of concern that they resulted in unnecessary pain, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. In December, a Superior Court judge rejected the state’s new lethal injection protocols because officials hadn’t considered a one-drug method used in other states.
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Funny, how right wing 'Merka wants to put keep us in the company of countries such as: Somalia,China, Iran, Sudan, and North Korea..
And they wonder why we call them throwbacks... Hopefully, they'll continue on their self guided path of extinction..
Hopefully.
?!?!?!?!?!?!?
At the end of the day, anyone could end up in jail for a split second mistake. I welcome a future where the Government does not have the power to kill me. Only third world countries have the death penalty. No civilized country kills it's citizenship for breaking it's laws.
Mike. "No civilized country kills it's citizenship for breaking it's laws." Are you serious? No civilized country has citizens that kill other citizens and thinks that it's ok to do so without repercussions. I don't know what fantasy land your living in, but please stay there.
You freaking igornant bleeding heart morons!
two words: Charles Manson. Sucker should be worm food now but thanks to capital punishment originally being overturned in the 1970s has gotten free room and board for 40 years!
But by all means, let other convicted killers stay in ALREADY OVERCROWDED jails in California while Jerry Brown decides to let felons go free all on the tax payers dime!
Well nobody said a liberal was smart...except by other liberals.
Costs too much for the death penalty? pssh..all you need is a tree and rope.
Well, that's pretty good all around for the prison unions. It means more union guards and with an already overcrowded prison system, more prisons need to be built by union workers, which will require even more union prison guards, all requiring more tax payer money to pay for all of it. Overall not bad for the unions.
Not sure it's good for the families of victims of those criminals that committed such crimes as to warrant the death penalty.
Why is everybody so against capital punishment? You kill someone, then you yourself face that very same punishment! Very simple. Quit the crybaby politically correct cowards way of life. You kill..............You pay! I have absolutely no qualms about that! The only thing I'm sorry about is..............they don't hang you anymore! Very sad. I guess they prefer them on the streets to do it again, as with sex predators, where they let them out time and time again, meanwhile, molesting more and more children, before FINALLY, actually punishing them!...........for a few years.
Why does it cost millions of dollars to execute the criminals? Can someone explain that to me?
I don't know why it costs so much..Its the legal system that gets the money.. Of course it costs tons
to house them...The dang Unions that too is a horrendous cost, guards etc.. California has got to get
someone out there to straighten it out...Maybe we could send you obama, then we could get the U.S.A.
back on track...You Californians can have him.. He would fit in well with you all...Whats one more
nut?
And jean could drive Obama out there.. after all.. what's one more fruit...
I wouldn't have that ilk in my truck. My husband would hang me...
You can take care of him...No fruits here....
I love how liberals want to argue against protecting society against a rapist murderer, but they have no problem killing the fetus of the same "person".
Pick what side youre on, im on the side of the people who's rights were taken away, youre on the side of those who dont care about others rights, must be nice to be a liberal.
I would never wish death on anyone, but I'd like to see the reaction to one of the "alleged" 800,000 that signed this BS petition if it was one of “THEIR” loved ones that was killed. I doubt it. Wake up California Leftists. If you are convicted of murder and sentenced to death, just get it over with. Save US the 25-50K a year. Don’t stop at those sentenced to just death. If you are convicted of murder because “YOU COMMITED MURDER”, you should go too, immediately. No questions asked. There’s millions/billions saved a year and no over population in the cells.......
They dont understand that idea of being the victim, they always play the victim, but dont actually get what that means.
So true Trudat - I've lived in this State for to many years and I pray that one day the succession will happen because LA and SF (and sorrounding left wing cities) need to have their own idiot Governor that they can re-elect again after he tells them he had no clue what he was doing the first time. Stupid F'n people.
The most complete, yet succinct, discussion I have seen is in the chapter on capital punishment in book 4 all the free book series at http://andgulliverreturns.info. It discusses both the pros and the cons from three different ethical assumptions.
I say abolish the death penalty, but those criminals who are charged with crimes so terrible that they would have gotten death, let's just drop them off in the center of Antartica with a knife and a sandwich and let God decide their fate.
Im all for stoning the scum in public, but yet your idea is appealing.
I've gone back and forth on this question of the death penalty for many years and I have finally come to the conclusion that we, as a society should not do it, not because we sometimes get it wrong (after all, we sometimes sentence men to life in prison and get that wrong too), nor do I accept the argument for its use as a deterrent (I don't believe that we ought to impose punishment on one person in order to teach a lesson to others -- should the punishment then be less if the lesson didn't require teaching -- or the punishment more severe if citizens require still more teaching?).
When we shape a society, which is reflected in our legal system, it ought to embody our best and highest values -- in principle, at any rate. And those values, for any society, are always going to be challenged the most when we have to deal with the worst people in our midst.
We have a choice. We can yield to our worst impulses or try to hold on to our best ones. Because they are cruel, and brutal, and merciless doesn't mean that we, as a society, need to create (as many other societies have) a legal system that responds in kind -- in order to avenge ourselves on these criminals for no real reason beyond discharging our feelings of outrage at their crimes.
Of course it's not as if I don't share in those feelings. You hear about some person who's raped and killed a child or done something despicable and I think (like most people) -- God, I'd just like to kill that son of a bitch. Preferably, slowly and painfully.
And there have been plenty of societies where the law provided for exactly that -- death by slow torture.
But hopefully, we shouldn't yield to that sort of vengeful eye-for-an-eye impulse -- even for those who commit the most heinous of crimes.
Do you really think that because we've eliminated the slow torture part of it but left in the "death" part that we're not still working out that same savage impulse?
We have an obligation to our fellow responsible citizens to remove those who are a permanent danger to society to a place where they cannot hurt others or themselves and keep them there.
That is enough. Let them simply be taken from the free world and denied the capacity to do harm.
It's important to remember that the whole purpose of punishment -- whether we're punishing a child or an adult -- is correction. It's intended to make them behave better.
If that's impossible, then no purpose is served by the punishment other than the pleasure gained by the the punisher at the pain suffered by the person being punished.
Killing doesn't teach the victim. It doesn't save us any money, at least in the current system (and is that really a reason to kill people, rather than imprison them?).
It is not somehow more "just" -- we simply do not and cannot live by eye-for-eye.
It just makes us feel better.
That is a bad reason to kill people.
N.M., try to keep that outlook if a family member of yours is rape, maimed, or murdered by a person that has no remorse for what they did.
Corporal punishment, despite what libs like to say, isnt about revenge, its about protect people against future crimes from these animals.
N.M. - "because we sometimes get it wrong". Who's the "WE"?. If someone gets it wrong, don't blame me. Blame the crappy system and the OVER POWERING GOVERNMENT that "YOU" have "backed and instilled". The smaller the government the better the system. Again, wake up..
Keep the lawyers out of it and it would be cheaper. You could outsource it to China if you want speed and cheap.
Some deserve to die, they've earned it.
No death penalty, nothing to hold back a killer.
You just gave me an idea...Lets send the prisoners to China... That would solve it all.
Just quit sending your left/over, tired of taxes, broke Californians to Idaho...No More!!!
And here we have a poster boy throwback that wants to do away with legal representation for defendants..
It's stories like this that give you a very accurate, yet disturbing look, behind the the atrophied intellects of your garden variety right wing loon...
Death I believe is an easy out and allows no accountability or pain to the criminal but for them to have to sit in prison with no chance to ever be free is the best punishment. Rather pay to keep murders alive and suffering in prison than the majority in prison that are non-violent offenders.
Being a liberal holds no accountability either, ok despite the cheap shot, no prison isnt enough for many, they dont car if they are locked up, look up michael woodmansee and see if you believe prison was enough.
You talking to me -trud-? Wanted to address anyway... how do you know prison isn't enough --- they don't car (you said) if they are locked up--- how do you know they don't care (how it's spelled) , or are they just pretending it doesn't hurt to hurt back? I got a degree in CJ if I gave you cases to look-up your little mind would pop.
4cause - so hypothetical. Murderer (18 years old) given Death Penalty. Lives in prison for 35 years before being put to death costs the tax payers (which by the way means you too assuming you pay taxes) 1.75 million, that is justification to keep the scum alive? That’s just one person. Well, let’s see, as of January 1, 2012 California had 732 on Death Row. So that’s roughly “30 MILLION A YEAR” in tax payers money, and you are fine with that…………?
TD - give me that stats on what we pay for all those non-violent offenders overcrowding the prisons. Oh ok.... 18 yr old lives 35 years in prison before put to death--- we paid anyway before punishment was actually carried out. 30 million a year??? So you've figured out the cost and pattern of crime? You're going to be rich.... doesn't work that way and it's not that easy.
Kudos 4cause, you got a degree in CJ, im thrilled you went to college and havent had to deal with real pieces of sh*t that have no excuse to be alive. Did you look up the case i put up? I doubt it, youre too afraid you may agree with me that he has no right to live on earth with human beings.
But good job picking up typos, thats the sort of thing that makes the liberal elitist camp feel good about themselves.
Thank you, California. As a nation we need to move away from revenge and toward the light of civilization.
Only people intending to commit crimes believe its revenge, that and cowards who have never had a heinous crime committed against anyone they know, a selfish attribute.
trudat:
Only people intending to commit crimes believe its revenge...
________________________________________________________________________________________
Where does your knowledge of peoples' intentions and beliefs come from?
_______________________________________________________________________________
...that and cowards who have never had a heinous crime committed against anyone they know, a selfish attribute.
_____________________________________________________________________________
So only people who've been victims of violent crime, or who know someone who's been one, aren't cowards? Some people who've had family members murdered are nevertheless against the death penalty; strange how they avoided your kind of bloodlust.
C J did you know that liberalism is a mental disorder? There is a book out there for ya..
Norway doesn't have the death penalty . but they do have an admitted mass murderer who killed 77 innocent people , almost half of which were minors . He faces a penalty of 21 years in prison !!! Keep using your criminal rights and reducing sentences and see where it leads you . I imagine there are a lot of Norwegians wondering how their system got to this point . Don't think that kind of crime isn't going to happen in CA , it's only a matter of time. Some have mentioned innocent people condemned to death , well I can give you the names of 77 that were tried and executed in a few hours without regards to to their rights .
Death I believe is an easy out and allows no accountability or pain to the criminal but for them to have to sit in prison with no chance to ever be free is the best punishment. Rather pay to keep murders alive and suffering in prison than the majority in prison that are non-violent offenders.
4cause, do you have the money to house them? If not just be quiet and allow the people to
vote on it.. Its usually the ones that don't have a dime that want to save the criminal...
Gotta quit acting like a nut..
No, no, no. I'm not paying my tax dollars to keep these people clothed, fed and a roof over their heads for the rest of their lives. If they're on death row they go.
You'd rather pay to keep non-violent criminals in jail. They are the ones overcrowding the jails.... death row is a small group and we'd save money by keeping the violent locked up for life than druggies that will never stop no matter how many times we lock them up and have to pay their:med bills, put them through school, pay for prescriptions, etc. oh and pay for cable...and I can go on?
4cause, do you realize that forty percent of your prisons in California are filled with illegals?
Get your wonderful Pelosi, Boxer, and Moonbeam to send them packing and you would see your
taxes, healthcare, just about everything go down in cost.. You people have no idea what those illegals
are costing you.. THEY ARE ILLEGAL...HEAD UM UP AND HERD UM OUT..
As a former Californian I can state that the populace of that state are composed largely of fruitcakes. Any state that would allow a plethora of socialist bastard legislators and a governor like Jackass Jerry has got to be composed of fecal brained idiots. At least in Texas they execute killers - no nonsense.
When in California I paid over 120K in annual corporate and personal taxes; now I pay $0. Eat crap, California.
if any of you had a family member killed i.e. daughter or son you would all change your minds..screw these life long scumbags..or are all that vote to remove the death penalty criminals themselves and they dont want to be killed for their own disrespect for other human lives!?...think about it! if you dont kill someone you wont be killed how hard is that! but i have a feeling the vote will pass because there are far to many scumbags out there that want to do whatever they want rob,rape,and kill without the same happening to them to push the vote through....i hate what this country of morons has become!
4
This is my take and I hope people respond. I am against the Death Penalty but can we be realistic for a moment. It is some very sick, deranged individuals out there that do horrible things. I for one believe that man cannot decide weather another man should die. However living in the society that we do, if we must, here are a few changes that we must adhere to. First, when deciding the Death Penalty, all parties involved, investigators, lawyers, judges, etc, should be held accountable if for some chance in the future the convicted is found to be truly innocent. This means that to say the least, they should be tried by a jury of their peers (chuckle) 2nd degree homicide. Why should these people be immune to any decision that is made. This should include all trials, not just the Death Penalty. Second, the candidates should get the best attorneys, period. Remember, once the act has been committed, there is no turning back. Lastly, if an execution is to be carried out, let's throw the constitution out the window and inflict cruel and unusual punishment on regular TV so everyone can watch. I think this would really deter any type of screw ups on both sides.
Jeff, you are brain dead.. You would hold someone accountable for another's crime.. You my friend need
mental help...Just keep the death penalty and be done with it.. Oh and the Constitution is the best
thing that ever happened to this country.. Just you and whomever try to take it away and you will see
an army bigger than any you could ever imagine...
ending it would save a lot of money...
No... non-violent offenders are over crowding our jails/prisons.
Yes if you arent a violent offender then you should be free, just make them promise they wont break the law again.
Um, the choice is not between freedom and the death penalty (did you seriously miss that?). The cost that capital punishment entails related to litigation not housing the prisoners. So yes, they cost money and option is to house them for life without parole, comprende?
I would vote to end the death penalty for convicted murderers if we can also end the death penalty for innocent unborn children whose only crime is being inconvenient or unwanted. Let's not kill anyone. Deal? (I thought not.)
nice way to put the liberal knife in their own backs (pun intended)...i agree! DONT KILL KILLERS! KILL YOUR BABY!...doesnt make sence to me either!