DEATH PENALTY DEBATE HEATS UP IN CALIFORNIA

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Dueling ballot measures could also impact fate of Death Row inmates

By Miriam Raftery

November 7, 2015 (Sacramento) -- California has not executed a prisoner since 2006 due to legal challenges, although there are 747 inmates on death row and at least 17 of those have exhausted all legal appeals, the Sacramento Bee reports.

But executions may soon resume, if a proposal by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is approved.  The plan calls for use of a single drug to execute condemned prisoners, instead of a multiple-drug mixture previously used.  The drug of choice for executions could actually be one of four barbiturates specified in the proposal.

The announcement has drawn both support and opposition.

Sacramento defense attorney Don Heller, who has fought to abolish the death penalty, has stated, “The system is broken and society will be a lot better without capital punishment because it just doesn’t work.” He also cited high costs of executions as a reason for ending capital punishment.

But Kent Scheidegger at the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation called the action a victory, “particularly for families of murder victims who have been waiting for justice.” The Foundation filed a lawsuit last year on behalf of murder victims’ families.  A settlement required creation of a new lethal injection that would withstand court challenges and that would not violate the Constitution’s prohibition of cruel or unusual punishment.

Thirty states and the federal government now rely on lethal injections as the preferred means of execution. But some drug makers have balked at supplying the pharmaceuticals for lethal injection, making supply an issue and causing some states to experiment with drug mixtures – in some cases with disturbing results where death was far from swift or painless.

Californian’s views on capital punishment are mixed, with slightly over half (54%) supporting it in the latest Field Poll, while 34 percent opposed the death penalty.

The public has 75 days to comment on the proposal, which can be read in full at the Corrections Department website . In addition, a public hearing will be held on January 22.

But voters may have the ultimate say.  Former M*A*S*H TV star Mike Farrell has launched a proposed ballot measure  that would eliminate the death penalty in California.

Meanwhile a competing measure backed by law enforcement and victims’ rights groups seeks to speed up executions and force condemned prisoners to pay restitution to victims’ familes.


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