California Ballot 2016 - Proposition 62
California is one of the 30 states where the death penalty is still legal. Proposition 62 seeks to repeal the legality of the death penalty. Four years ago, Proposition 34 tried and failed to do the same thing.
Those who wish to see Proposition 62 be defeated offer three arguments against it:
1. Proposition 62 would protect the worst criminals while diminishing protection of victim's rights.
2. Proposition 62 would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
3. Proposition 62 would end the death penalty system when it should be mended.
The 2nd argument is ridiculous. Since the death penalty became law once again in 1978 there have been 13 executions in California. They cost the taxpayers an average of $384 million each according to the official ballot argument in favor of Proposition 62. The legislative analyst estimates the annual fiscal savings to be around $150 million. There is no logical reason to argue that keeping the death penalty saves money. It does not. This is the primary reason I will vote YES on Prop 62.
The first argument is specious. The only protection that murderers would receive from a repeal of the death penalty is living with the uncertainty of waiting years, possibly decades, to see if they would ever reach the death chamber for that lethal injection. Taking the life of a murderer does nothing to protect the rights of their victim or of other potential victims. The argument that the death penalty acts as a deterrent is as silly as the idea that continuing the costly process of pursuing executions would somehow "save" moneyh.
The final argument is nothing more than an admission that the death penalty system currently in use is flawed now. It cannot be fixed.
There is one certainty to argue in favor of Prop 62 aside from the fiscal prudence it represents. Ending the death penalty eliminates the small, but finite risk that an innocent person would be put to death. The finality of the death penalty is perhaps the strongest argument against its existence.
Those who wish to see Proposition 62 be defeated offer three arguments against it:
1. Proposition 62 would protect the worst criminals while diminishing protection of victim's rights.
2. Proposition 62 would cost taxpayers millions of dollars.
3. Proposition 62 would end the death penalty system when it should be mended.
The 2nd argument is ridiculous. Since the death penalty became law once again in 1978 there have been 13 executions in California. They cost the taxpayers an average of $384 million each according to the official ballot argument in favor of Proposition 62. The legislative analyst estimates the annual fiscal savings to be around $150 million. There is no logical reason to argue that keeping the death penalty saves money. It does not. This is the primary reason I will vote YES on Prop 62.
The first argument is specious. The only protection that murderers would receive from a repeal of the death penalty is living with the uncertainty of waiting years, possibly decades, to see if they would ever reach the death chamber for that lethal injection. Taking the life of a murderer does nothing to protect the rights of their victim or of other potential victims. The argument that the death penalty acts as a deterrent is as silly as the idea that continuing the costly process of pursuing executions would somehow "save" moneyh.
The final argument is nothing more than an admission that the death penalty system currently in use is flawed now. It cannot be fixed.
There is one certainty to argue in favor of Prop 62 aside from the fiscal prudence it represents. Ending the death penalty eliminates the small, but finite risk that an innocent person would be put to death. The finality of the death penalty is perhaps the strongest argument against its existence.
posted by me at 9:43 PM
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