League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	State of California November 6, 2012 Election
	Proposition 34 Death Penalty State of California Initiative Statute - Majority Approval Required Fail: 5,885,080 / 48.0% Yes votes ...... 6,372,996 / 52.0% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition 34

Arguments Against Proposition 34

Evidence shows MORE THAN 100 INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH in the U.S., and some have been executed! Prop. 34 means WE’LL NEVER EXECUTE AN INNOCENT PERSON in California. Franky Carrillo was 16 when he was arrested and wrongly convicted of murder in Los Angeles. It took 20 years to show his innocence! Cameron Willingham was executed in 2004 in Texas for an arson that killed his children; impartial investigators have since concluded there was no arson. “If someone’s executed and later found innocent, we can’t go back.”—Judge LaDoris Cordell, Santa Clara (Retired) California’s death penalty is TOO COSTLY and BROKEN BEYOND REPAIR. Only 13 people have been executed since 1967—no one since 2006. Most death row inmates die of old age. WE WASTE MILLIONS OF TAX DOLLARS on special housing and taxpayer-financed appeals that can last 25 years. Today, death row inmates can sit around doing nothing. 34 MAKES CONVICTED KILLERS WORK AND PAY into the victims’ compensation fund, as ordered by a judge. It keeps killers who commit heinous crimes IN PRISON UNTIL THEY DIE. It frees up millions of WASTED TAX DOLLARS—to help our kids’ schools and catch more murderers and rapists—without raising taxes. 34 SAVES MONEY. California is broke. Many think the death penalty is cheaper than life without parole—that’s just NOT true. An impartial study found California will SAVE NEARLY $1 BILLION in five years if we replace the death penalty with life in prison without possibility of parole. Savings come from eliminating lawyers’ fees and special death row housing. media.lls.edu/documents/ Executing_the_Will_of_the_Voters.pdf Those wasted tax dollars would be better spent on LAW ENFORCEMENT and OUR SCHOOLS. WE CANNOT LET BRUTAL KILLERS EVADE JUSTICE. Every year, almost half of all murders and over half of all rapes GO UNSOLVED. Killers walk free and often go on to rape and kill again. Thousands of victims wait for justice while we waste millions on death row. Killers who commit monstrous acts must be swiftly brought to justice, locked up forever, and severely punished. 34 SAVES TAX DOLLARS and directs $100 million in savings for more DNA testing, crime labs, and other tools that help cops solve rapes and murders. 34 makes killers who commit horrible crimes spend the rest of their lives in prison with NO HOPE OF EVER GETTING OUT. It makes them WORK so they can PAY restitution to their victims. That’s JUSTICE THAT WORKS. Every person justly sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole since 1977 is still locked up or has died in prison. Life without possibility of parole works and ensures we will NEVER EXECUTE AN INNOCENT PERSON in California. “The death penalty doesn’t make us safer—better crime-solving does.”—Former Attorney General John Van de Kamp “I am troubled by cases like Willingham’s—of innocent people who may have been executed. I support 34 because it guarantees we will never execute an innocent person in California.” —Bishop Flores, San Diego Diocese Vote YES on 34. GIL GARCETTI, District Attorney Los Angeles County, 1992-2000 JEANNE WOODFORD, Warden California's Death Row prison, 1999-2004 JENNIFER A. WAGGONER, President League of Women Voters of California Rebuttal to Arguments For JERRY BROWN SAYS THERE ARE NO INNOCENT INMATES ON CALIFORNIA’S DEATH ROW.—San Francisco Chronicle, 3/7/12. Yes on 34 is so desperate that they’ll say anything to get your vote. PUBLIC OPINION POLLS SHOW OVERWHELMING SUPPORT FOR THE DEATH PENALTY, SO THEY PURPOSELY USE MISLEADING TERMS LIKE INNOCENCE, SOLVING CRIMES AND SAVING MONEY. Don’t be fooled. “PROP. 34 TAKES $100 MILLION FROM CALIFORNIA’S GENERAL FUND. PROPONENTS’ CLAIMS THAT THE MONEY COMES FROM ALLEGED SAVINGS IS FALSE. Furthermore, Prop. 34 will cost taxpayers millions more annually by guaranteeing murderers lifetime housing and healthcare benefits.”—Mike Genest, 2005–2009 California Finance Director. Prop. 34 supporters can’t defend their initiative. Instead, they deceive. Prop. 34’s so-called “work requirement?” Making killers take PE classes meets it. Exonerated Franky Carrillo . . . He never got a death sentence. There’s no “California’s Death Row prison.” It’s San Quentin. Voters are smart and know Prop. 34 supporters have been working for decades to eliminate capital punishment. THEY ARE NOT TAXPAYER WATCHDOGS—just the opposite. THEY MAKE JUSTICE MORE EXPENSIVE. “Prop. 34 punishes families of those who suffered horrific deaths by condemned killers. That’s why EVERY MAJOR CALIFORNIA LAW ENFORCEMENT ORGANIZATION OPPOSES PROP. 34.”—Scott Seaman, President, California Police Chiefs Association. DON’T LET GUILTY MURDERERS WIN. Scott Peterson callously murdered his wife Laci and their unborn son. He earned his death sentence. LACI WAS INNOCENT. BABY CONNER WAS HELPLESS. Remember the victims, including 43 police officers murdered protecting us. Stand up for a safer California. Vote NO on 34. CARL V. ADAMS, President California District Attorneys Association KERMIT ALEXANDER Family Executed by Los Angeles Gang Member RON COTTINGHAM, President Peace Officers Research Association of California

California is broke. Abolishing the death penalty costs taxpayers $100 MILLION OVER THE NEXT FOUR YEARS AND MANY MILLIONS MORE IN THE FUTURE. Instead of justice, killers get lifetime housing/healthcare benefits. PROP. 34 ISN’T ABOUT SAVING MONEY. It’s about the ACLU’s agenda to weaken public safety laws. They’re desperate to convince you that saving murderers from justice is justified. Or, if you don’t believe that, they claim it saves money! THE ACLU’S EFFORTS ARE INDEFENSIBLE, CRUEL TO LOVED ONES OF VICTIMS, MISLEADING AND INSULTING TO VOTERS AND DANGEROUS FOR CALIFORNIA. Prop. 34 lets serial killers, cop killers, child killers, and those who kill the elderly, escape justice. Proponents don’t acknowledge that when California’s death penalty was eliminated before, condemned criminals were released only to rape and kill again! Voters had to restore capital punishment to restore justice. HERE ARE THE FACTS. The death penalty is given to less than 2% of murderers whose crimes are so shocking that juries of law-abiding citizens unanimously delivered the sentence. Richard Allen Davis: kidnapped, raped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas. Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez: kidnapped, raped, tortured and mutilated 14 people and terrorized 11 more including children and senior citizens. Gang Member Ramon Sandoval: ambushed and shot Police Officers Daryle Black (a former U.S. Marine) and Rick Delfin with an AK-47, killing Black, shooting Delfin in the head and wounding a pregnant woman. Serial killer Robert Rhoades, a child rapist, kidnapped 8-year-old Michael Lyons. Rhoades raped and tortured Michael for 10 hours, stabbing him 70 times before slitting his throat and dumping his body in a river. Alexander Hamilton: executed Police Officer Larry Lasater (a Marine combat veteran). Lasater’s wife was seven months pregnant at the time. Capital murder victims include: 225 CHILDREN 43 POLICE OFFICERS 235 RAPED/murdered 90 TORTURED/murdered THE ACLU IS THE PROBLEM: They claim the death penalty is broken and expensive. What hypocrisy! It’s the ACLU and supporters who have disrupted fair implementation of the law with endless delays. Other states including Ohio and Arizona give criminals full rights and fairly enforce the death penalty. California can too. PLAYING POLITICS: Marketing Prop. 34, supporters make cost claims based on newspaper articles and “studies” written by the ACLU or other death penalty opponents. Department of Corrections data suggests abolishing capital punishment will result in increased long-term costs in the tens of millions, just for housing/healthcare. Taxpayers will spend at least $50,000 annually to care for each convicted killer who didn’t think twice about killing innocent children, cops, mothers and fathers. DO YOU THINK GIVING VICIOUS KILLERS LIFETIME HOUSING AND HEALTHCARE BENEFITS SAVES MONEY? OF COURSE NOT! THAT’S THE SECRET PROP. 34 PROPONENTS DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW. It’s not about money . . . it’s about their political agenda. Prosecutors, cops, crime victims and community leaders across California are urging you to vote NO on 34. Stop the ACLU. Preserve the death penalty. Protect California. Visit waitingforjustice.net. Please join us. Vote NO on 34. HON. PETE WILSON Former Governor of California MARC KLAAS Father of 12-Year-Old Murder Victim Polly Klaas KEITH ROYAL, President California State Sheriffs’ Association Rebuttal to Arguments Against WE’LL NEVER EXECUTE AN INNOCENT PERSON with Proposition 34. California’s death penalty is costly and broken beyond repair. CHECK THE FACTS: The impartial cost analysis in this voter guide says 34 SAVES MILLIONS every year. Read it yourself. Law enforcement leaders and prosecutors found California’s death penalty is BROKEN and COSTS MILLIONS more each year than life in prison without parole. Read here: http://ccfaj.org/rr-dp-official.html. 34 ends expensive special housing, lawyers, and private cells for death row inmates. We need those wasted tax dollars for our schools. “There’s no chance California’s death penalty can ever be fixed. The millions wasted on this broken system would be much better spent keeping teachers, police and firefighters on their jobs.” —Justice Carlos Moreno, California Supreme Court (Retired) 34 helps CATCH AND PUNISH KILLERS. It will: Keep heinous killers IN PRISON UNTIL THEY DIE with NO HOPE OF EVER GETTING OUT. Make them WORK and PAY court-ordered victim restitution. Save hundreds of millions and directs $100 million to law enforcement to solve rapes and murders. 46% of murders and 56% of rapes GO UNSOLVED while we WASTE MILLIONS on a handful of criminals already behind bars. Every person justly sentenced to LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT POSSIBILITY OF PAROLE since 1977 REMAINS IN PRISON OR HAS DIED IN PRISON. Remember, evidence shows MORE THAN 100 INNOCENT PEOPLE HAVE BEEN SENTENCED TO DEATH in the U.S., and some have been executed! WE’LL NEVER EXECUTE AN INNOCENT PERSON with 34. That’s justice that works. Vote YES on 34. MAYOR ANTONIO R. VILLARAIGOSA City of Los Angeles HON. JOHN VAN DE KAMP, Attorney General State of California, 1983-1991 JUDGE LADORIS CORDELL (Retired) Santa Clara County Superior Court