Obviously none of these wealthy contributors have ever had a loved one brutally murdered. I hope the people of California have the good sense to vote down the proposed death penalty repeal measure if it does get on the ballot.
The shopworn argument that by abolishing the death penalty, the states would save millions of dollars is not true. If you compare the cost of keeping a condemned inmate on death row for 10 years - most of that cost coming from fighting endless appeals – to the cost of keeping him locked up for life, you will find that it cost the state more money to keep him locked up for, let’s say 30 years. Oh by the way - surprise, surprise - the costs of confining inmates keep going up and up as they age.
CAMPAIGN TO REPEAL CALIFORNIA DEATH PENALTY NETS NEARLY $1.2 MILLION
by Torey Van Oot
The Sacramento Bee
November 20, 2011
A group seeking to ask California voters to repeal the death penalty has netted nearly $1.2 million in recent weeks to aid its drive to qualify for the 2012 ballot.
The contributions, made to a committee created to fund the proposed ballot measure, were reported this week in campaign finance filings posted on the secretary of state website.
Major donors listed in the report include several California branches of the American Civil Liberties Union ($41,770), Google executive Robert Alan Eustace ($125,000), Hyatt Development Corporation CEO Nicholas Pritzker ($500,000), and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings ($125,000).
Supporters of the proposed measure, which would replace the death penalty with life imprisonment without parole, must collect 504,760 valid voter signatures by March 19 to secure a spot on the November ballot. They've argued that the change, which would apply retroactively to inmates currently on death row, would free up tens of millions of dollars that could be used for law enforcement, education and other state spending needs.
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I believe that, with a combination of "prisons cost too much money" folks, "the death penalty costs too much money" folks, and the "death penalty is evil" folks this stands a realistic chance of passing next year, more's the pity.
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