For many Californians, the choice between President Obama and the Republican nominee may be the second most important decision they make on this November's election ballot. In addition to their presidential selection, voters in the state will be asked to decide the fate of California's death penalty.
By gathering far more than the 504,000 signatures needed, supporters of the SAFE California Act, an initiative that would eliminate the death penalty, have
gained approval to place the measure on the ballot this fall.
Passage of SAFE, the "Savings, Accountability, and Full Enforcement for California" Act, would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole. If the measure passes, no crime committed in the state going forward would be punishable by death, and sentences for the 723 inmates who currently occupy California's death row would transition to life in prison,
reducing the total United States death row population by nearly 25%.
Proponents of SAFE argue that mountains of data collected in the three decades since the reinstatement of the death penalty make a clear case against capital punishment. No conclusive evidence exists to show that the death penalty actually deters violent crime, and the costs of maintaining the current system are exorbitant. More than $4 billion has been
spent since 1978 to execute 13 prisoners on California's death row. Those who support the ban on the death penalty present a formidable argument on fiscal merit, even without the introduction of moral questions.
Opponents of the SAFE Act believe the state has not only the right, but also the responsibility, to ensure that criminal punishments fit their corresponding crimes. For California's most egregious criminal offenders, they argue, death stands as the only appropriate and fair penalty. Pro-death penalty groups believe quite strongly that justice, not economy, is the crux of the issue.
As with the rest of the nation, hot button social issues like abortion and gay marriage divide Californians.
