Posted by eliza gale on May 2, 2012 - 10:33pm
Erin Mellon is a spokesperson for SAFE California, the organization that is sponsoring the November ballot proposition to end the death penalty. The gentleman in the picture is Former DA Gil Garcetti, who enforced the death penalty as the District Attorney of Los Angeles, and feels that it, "serves no useful purpose".
Here is a link to the SAFE website:
safecalifornia.org
1. What are you proposing as an alternative to the death penalty?
Life in prison with no possibility of parole, with the requirement than inmates work and pay restitution to victims' family members. Those requirements already exist for inmates serving sentences of life without parole in California, but death row inmates do not work and do not pay restitution.
2. Why have you decided to petition this issue as opposed to going through the legislature?
California's death penalty was enacted by a ballot initiative in 1978, which means a ballot initiative is the only way to replace it. The original author and proponent of the 1978 law, Don Heller and Ron Briggs respectively, have both called their original death law a "colossal failure" and support replacing it with life without parole.
3. I have always heard that the death penalty is costly because of the appeals process. Isn't the accused going to appeal even if he gets a life sentence? Why would a death penalty appeal be more costly?
Death row appeals are very different than appeals for inmates serving life without parole because, as the US Supreme Court has said, "death is different." Inmates serving life without parole are only given one taxpayer-funded appeal while death row inmates are given three. Death row appeals take much more time and money, as they require specially trained prosecutors, defense attorneys, investigators and judges. On average, the appeals process is approximately 25 years on death row, whereas appeals for inmates serving life are typically resolved in less than 5.
4. What would be the initial cost to the state if your proposition become a law?
None -- there will actually be significant savings. As soon as Californians pass SAFE CA, the state will be able to close three state agencies that currently employs defense attorneys and prosecutors who work exclusively on death row cases, resulting in savings of tens of millions per year. Following that, inmates on death row will be moved into the general population, resulting in more savings. SAFE CA will save a total of $184 million per year (according to the most exhaustive study to date on California's death penalty by senior Federal Judge Arthur Alarcon and law professor Puala Mitchell). $30 million of those savings will be set aside each year for three years to create the SAFE California Fund, a fund for local law enforcement to solve open rape and murder cases by having the resources for crime-fighting technology like DNA tests.
5. What would you say to the parent of a murder victim who wants their child's killer put to death?
Victims' families are divided on the death penalty responses to tragedy vary far more widely. SAFE California is supported by more than 700 victims' family member who believe that the death penalty is a hollow promise for victims. Many of them support replacing the death penalty because they have come to understand, through the pain of their personal experience, that there are dwindling resources for forensics labs, basic technology and staff to actually solve violent crime cases. The shocking truth is that nearly half of all murders go unsolved every year in California, in an average year. By voting "YES" to SAFE California we can offer some measure of support to victims.
6. What do you think makes someone a killer?
No one has a full answer to that question. Law enforcement professionals like Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quention who oversaw four executions and is the principal proponent of SAFE California, do know one thing for sure: the best way to prevent crime is to solve it. SAFE California's budget savings of $1 billion in five years would go a long way toward solving the appalling 46% of murder cases and 56% of reported rape cases that remain open every year. This is a better use of our limited state funds than a high-ticket budget item that does nothing to keep us safe.
7. What is the best argument you can think of for the death penalty?
Many people support the death penalty because they mistakenly believe that it may be less expensive than life without parole, but that is simply not true. The death penalty costs much more than life without parole and is a hollow promise for victims' families. It drags victims' families through a 25 year appeals process, autopsy photos, and confrontations with the convicted person even though there is no legal or practical way for California to resume executions in the near future, if ever.
8. Will the state benefit financially from your proposal?
Yes, SAFE CA will save California $1 billion over five years. These savings come from a variety of costs associated with the death penalty: death penalty trials cost more than trials seeking life without parole; death penalty appeals are longer and more expensive than other appeals; death penalty lawyers have to be specially trained and qualified; death row housing costs 3x more than housing in life without parole; and if we keep the death penalty, we'll have to construct a new death row facility for half a billion dollars. All of that can be avoided by SAFE CA.
9. What made you decide to pursue this issue in this election?
There has been a national trend away from executions in the United States. The numbers of executions and death sentences are falling and five states have replaced the death penalty in the last five years, most recently in Connecticut just days ago. Recent polling in California shows that when given the option, most voters prefer life without parole over the death penalty.
10. What is the biggest misconception about capital punishment?
The biggest misconception about capital punishment is that it saves money. Many people believe that the death penalty costs less than life without parole, but that's just not true. In reality the death penalty costs California taxpayers $184 million every year above and beyond the cost of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Please note; Eliza's interviews are done by email. All answers are unedited and come right from the lovely fingertips of her subjects:)
Here is a link to the SAFE website:
safecalifornia.org
1. What are you proposing as an alternative to the death penalty?
Life in prison with no possibility of parole, with the requirement than inmates work and pay restitution to victims' family members. Those requirements already exist for inmates serving sentences of life without parole in California, but death row inmates do not work and do not pay restitution.
2. Why have you decided to petition this issue as opposed to going through the legislature?
California's death penalty was enacted by a ballot initiative in 1978, which means a ballot initiative is the only way to replace it. The original author and proponent of the 1978 law, Don Heller and Ron Briggs respectively, have both called their original death law a "colossal failure" and support replacing it with life without parole.
3. I have always heard that the death penalty is costly because of the appeals process. Isn't the accused going to appeal even if he gets a life sentence? Why would a death penalty appeal be more costly?
Death row appeals are very different than appeals for inmates serving life without parole because, as the US Supreme Court has said, "death is different." Inmates serving life without parole are only given one taxpayer-funded appeal while death row inmates are given three. Death row appeals take much more time and money, as they require specially trained prosecutors, defense attorneys, investigators and judges. On average, the appeals process is approximately 25 years on death row, whereas appeals for inmates serving life are typically resolved in less than 5.
4. What would be the initial cost to the state if your proposition become a law?
None -- there will actually be significant savings. As soon as Californians pass SAFE CA, the state will be able to close three state agencies that currently employs defense attorneys and prosecutors who work exclusively on death row cases, resulting in savings of tens of millions per year. Following that, inmates on death row will be moved into the general population, resulting in more savings. SAFE CA will save a total of $184 million per year (according to the most exhaustive study to date on California's death penalty by senior Federal Judge Arthur Alarcon and law professor Puala Mitchell). $30 million of those savings will be set aside each year for three years to create the SAFE California Fund, a fund for local law enforcement to solve open rape and murder cases by having the resources for crime-fighting technology like DNA tests.
5. What would you say to the parent of a murder victim who wants their child's killer put to death?
Victims' families are divided on the death penalty responses to tragedy vary far more widely. SAFE California is supported by more than 700 victims' family member who believe that the death penalty is a hollow promise for victims. Many of them support replacing the death penalty because they have come to understand, through the pain of their personal experience, that there are dwindling resources for forensics labs, basic technology and staff to actually solve violent crime cases. The shocking truth is that nearly half of all murders go unsolved every year in California, in an average year. By voting "YES" to SAFE California we can offer some measure of support to victims.
6. What do you think makes someone a killer?
No one has a full answer to that question. Law enforcement professionals like Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quention who oversaw four executions and is the principal proponent of SAFE California, do know one thing for sure: the best way to prevent crime is to solve it. SAFE California's budget savings of $1 billion in five years would go a long way toward solving the appalling 46% of murder cases and 56% of reported rape cases that remain open every year. This is a better use of our limited state funds than a high-ticket budget item that does nothing to keep us safe.
7. What is the best argument you can think of for the death penalty?
Many people support the death penalty because they mistakenly believe that it may be less expensive than life without parole, but that is simply not true. The death penalty costs much more than life without parole and is a hollow promise for victims' families. It drags victims' families through a 25 year appeals process, autopsy photos, and confrontations with the convicted person even though there is no legal or practical way for California to resume executions in the near future, if ever.
8. Will the state benefit financially from your proposal?
Yes, SAFE CA will save California $1 billion over five years. These savings come from a variety of costs associated with the death penalty: death penalty trials cost more than trials seeking life without parole; death penalty appeals are longer and more expensive than other appeals; death penalty lawyers have to be specially trained and qualified; death row housing costs 3x more than housing in life without parole; and if we keep the death penalty, we'll have to construct a new death row facility for half a billion dollars. All of that can be avoided by SAFE CA.
9. What made you decide to pursue this issue in this election?
There has been a national trend away from executions in the United States. The numbers of executions and death sentences are falling and five states have replaced the death penalty in the last five years, most recently in Connecticut just days ago. Recent polling in California shows that when given the option, most voters prefer life without parole over the death penalty.
10. What is the biggest misconception about capital punishment?
The biggest misconception about capital punishment is that it saves money. Many people believe that the death penalty costs less than life without parole, but that's just not true. In reality the death penalty costs California taxpayers $184 million every year above and beyond the cost of life in prison with no chance of parole.
Please note; Eliza's interviews are done by email. All answers are unedited and come right from the lovely fingertips of her subjects:)
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