ONCE EVERY SO OFTEN CALIFORNIA VOTERS DO GET IT RIGHT

The death penalty was not only retained on November 8, but the voters opted to streamline the process in the face of a competing measure by ”hug a death row inmate” groups that would have abolished capital punishment

As usual, the voters of California did something really stupid on November8 when they approved the legalization of marijuana. I predict they will come to regret this move.

On the other hand, they did get it right when they voted to retain the death penalty. Not only did they keep capital punishment, but they opted to streamline the process so endless appeals would not keep the condemned on death row for decades. At the same time they defeated a competing measure that would have abolished capital punishment.

Unfortunately, getting it right is not the end. You can expect a barrage of lawsuits to be filed by the ”hug a death row inmate” groups, all claiming that streamlining the process will deprive the condemned of their constitutional rights and increase the chances that an innocent inmate will be put to death.

Here is a KQED News report on the death penalty vote:

CALIFORNIA’S DEATH PENALTY SURVIVES VOTE, GETS STREAMLINED

By Scott Shafer

Returns show California voters rejecting Proposition 62 — an effort to end capital punishment in the state — by 54-46 percent and approving a competing measure that would streamline executions by 51-49 percent.

Before the election, backers and opponents of both Propositions 62 and 66 agreed that California’s death penalty system was broken. Although nearly 900 death sentences have been handed down since California reinstated the capital punishment in 1978, there have been just 13 executions.

Legal appeals had already dragged on for decades when federal Judge Jeremy Fogel put a stop to executions in 2006. There hasn’t been one since, and California’s death row population has grown to 750.

Proposition 62 proponents argued the system was irreparably broken and couldn’t — or shouldn’t — be fixed. They banked on convincing voters that life sentences are a solid alternative to the rare execution, while sweetening the measure with a requirement that death row inmates work and pay restitution to their victims.

The campaign to end capital punishment raised more than $16 million, led by the Fund for Policy Reform and wealthy entrepreneurs, including Tom Steyer, Stanford professor Nicholas McKeown, Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings, and venture capitalist John Doerr.

Not to be outdone, the campaign to keep and quicken California death sentences raised more than $13 million, with major contributions from law enforcement organizations like the Peace Officers Research Association of California and the California Association of Highway Patrolmen.

Proposition 66 supporters adopted the motto “mend it, don’t end it” in hopes of preserving a death sentence for the most heinous crimes.

Support for capital punishment has been slipping in California for years, especially when voters are given the option of life in prison without the possibility of parole, but a similar effort to repeal the death penalty fell short in 2012, when California voters rejected Proposition 34 by 52 to 48 percent.

Backers of Proposition 62, led by Hollywood actor Mike Farrell and San Francisco-based Death Penalty Focus, felt the time was right to try again. They hoped to benefit from a relatively low crime rate, a large voter turnout and an influx of younger voters who generally oppose capital punishment.

In the dysfunctional status quo, death sentences occasionally are handed down but no condemned inmates are executed. And that won’t change until the state adopts a new lethal injection protocol that the courts accept.

EDITOR'S NOTE: As for the lethal injection protocol, either the state or the courts are dragging their heels on that. There's nothing difficult about it. Texas, Georgia and other states are using a single dose of pentobarbital, and they are doing it quite successfully. And as far as not being able to procure the pentobarbital from outside pharmaceutical sources, the Texas corrections department uses its own pharmacists to compound the lethal drug.