Now that Prop 34 to abolish the death penalty has been defeated, Phyllis Loya and her team will attempt to end California’s de facto moratorium on executions
Larry Lasater, a former Marine, was a Pittsburg, California police officer when, in April 2005, he was fatally shot by 18-year-old Alexander Hamilton while chasing two suspects in the robbery of a supermarket. When the 35-yeaar-old officer died, his wife was seven months pregnant with their first child.
Phyllis Loya, Larry’s mother, was a leader in the successful fight to defeat Proposition 34 (“A Good Case Against the ‘Safe California’ Initiative to Abolish the Death Penalty” / 4-28-12). Phyllis though, is not through fighting to make sure that justice is served for the victims of vicious murderers. Here is what Phyllis now says:
“Thanks so much for your continued support to preserve the death penalty. Aside from being a mom, I had concluded that if we were victorious it would be my life’s greatest work. If we had lost, I would have considered it the greatest effort of my life. Justice prevailed despite the well-financed proponents outspending us 25 to 1 in their deceptive ads. I was fortunate to work with a great team and our motto was “Amend it, not end it.” We are all determined to fight just as hard in our next mission to amend the death penalty and fix its problems.
The No on 34 campaign team will now be going on to the next part of our mission which is to amend the death penalty and fix its problems. We will be pursuing several avenues to accomplish this so please keep watching this issue. We need the support of all who care more for victims than murderers. The Yes on 34 folks had the money, but we had and still have the truth, the logic, the spirit and the heart. We also owe an enormous debt of gratitude to former governors Pete Wilson, George Deukmejian, and Gray Davis who came together in a bipartisan appeal urging voters to defeat Prop 34.
As my son Larry used to say, 'We’re good to go.'”
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