ANDERSON DEATH PENALTY MEASURES DEFEATED IN COMMITTEE

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April 19, 2012 (San Diego’s East County)—Two measures authored by Senator Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) were defeated in the Senate Public Safety Committee in Sacramento this week.  Senate Bill 1514 would have eliminated the automatic appeal of each death penalty case, while Senate Constitutional Amendment 20 would have required that any appeals of death penalty cases go to the State Court of Appeal rather than the State Supreme Court.

“In California these convicted death row prisoners often outlive their victims’ short lives on earth,” Anderson said, noting that by contrast, the Beltway Sniper was arrested, tried and convicted in two states and executed in seven years.  “These two measures would have helped tackle part of the unreasonable delay of enforcing the death penalty in Cailfornia.

Anderson’s measures were supported by Marc Klaas, father of 12-yaer-old murder victim Polly Klaas.  Her killer, Richard Allan Davis, remains on death row 19 years after the killing.  “I appreciate Senator Anderson efforts but the majority on this committee isn’t interested in real justice for victims.”

Not everyone agrees.  Death penalty opponents have spoken out against the measure.

“There is a fine line between revenge and justice. Many call themselves Christians while basically ignoring some of the most important instructions God gave us. Thou shalt not kill, has no footnotes.” Christine Phillips posted on a Santee Patch.com article on Anderson’s bill.

Donald Heller and Ron Briggs, who helped enact California’s current death penalty law in 1978, had this to say.  “Today, we agree with Sen. Anderson that the system we helped create is hopelessly broken. But far from tinkering with that system, we have both concluded the solution is to replace it with life without parole by passing the SAFE California Act (www.safecalifornia.org/home) on this November’s ballot,” they wrote (http://wafecalifornia.org/news/stories/death-penalty-cant-be-fixed-time-to-replace )

Heller and Briggs, who call themselves “staunch conservatives”, say they now oppose the death penalty because they believe life behind bars without parole keeps killers in prison permanently but “without the exorbitant price tag, terrible toll on the family members of victims, or the risk or executive an innocent person.”

California has executive just 13 prisoners since its death penalty law was enacted in 1978, but implementing the death penalty has cost over $4 billion to date.  Of that, 17% was for automatic appeals and state Habeas Corpus petitions.  The rest was for pre-trial and trial costs, federal Habeas Corpus appeas, and costs of incarceration.

 


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