DEATH PENALTY. INITIATIVE STATUTES. Repeals death penalty and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. Applies retroactively to existing death sentences. Directs $100 million to law enforcement agencies for investigations of homicide and rape cases. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing state and county criminal justice savings of about $130 million dollars annually with a few years, which could vary by tens of millions of dollars. One-time state costs of $100 million for local law enforcement grants.
Ballot Language of Prop 36:
THREE STRIKES LAW. REPEAT FELONY OFFENDERS. PENALTIES. INITIATIVE STATUTE. Revises law to impose life sentence only when new felony conviction is serious or violent. May authorize re-sentencing if third strike conviction was not serious or violent. Fiscal Impact: Ongoing state correctional savings of around $70 million annually, with even greater savings (up to $90 million) over the next couple of decades. These savings could vary significantly depending on future state actions.
Questions to ponder re Prop 34: What is the budget for a “capital case” prosecution unit for a county the size of San Diego? What is the budget for a Class 5/6 death penalty unit for public defender’s offices and their panel-attorney counterparts? What is the typical time difference between an LWOP trial and a death penalty trial and if any, how will it impact court costs?
What is the budget for the death penalty section of Appellate Defenders for a county the size of San Diego?
How long does it take to prosecute a death penalty appeal in CA while the defendant sits on death row (which they would anyway if they received an LWOP sentence)? What is the percentage of death penalty appeals that are actually successful?
Based on the length of time it takes to appeal a DP case (an appeal is “guaranteed” by law) and the volume of actual executions, do you think the population of CA’s death rows would increase if Prop 34 were passed?
How many persons currently on death row do you think are actually innocent of the crimes they were convicted of (or guilty of a lesser crime)?
Questions to ponder re Prop 36: What is the budget for a “three-strikes” or “major violator” prosecution unit for a county the size of San Diego? What is the budget for a “three-strikes” unit for public defender’s offices and their panel-attorney counterparts? How would these units’ budgets be impacted if misdemeanors, class 2 and some class 3 felonies considered as “third strikes” no longer made the defendant susceptible to spending 25+ years in prison?
How many more court hearings does a “three-striker” need when their misdemeanor “third strike” (for shoplifting baby formula or a six-pack at the corner store) was bumped up to a felony?
How would the budgets of Appellate Defenders for a county the size of San Diego and their panel counterparts be affected if the third strike of the “three strikes” law was limited to “serious or violent crimes?
How long does it take to prosecute a three-strikes appeal (for a petty crime bumped up to felony status) in CA while we all pay for the defendant to sit in the Big House while he/she could be home taking care of their own kids, paying fines, making restitution and reporting to a probation officer? What is the percentage of three-strike appeals which are actually successful?
How many persons currently stationed at a Big House in CA do you think are actually there due to being arrested for a misdemeanor as a “third strike” which was bumped up to felony status by the court?
How would each of these initiatives, if passed, affect CA’s budget for correctional personnel and related costs to run prisons?
I was against the “Three-Strikes Law” when it passed in ’93 and could see the “writing on the wall” back then. I’m voting for both initiatives.
Out prison system has a dismal track record at reforming people, so in general once a criminal always a criminal. The problem is we create a lot of crimes that don’t really harm people. If you chose to buy or sell drugs it’s really none of my business and it doesn’t harm me at all. Why should I pay to imprison you if you commit what amounts to a I want to be able to tell you what to do crime.
Just getting rid of non-violent drug related crimes probably shrinks the prison system and 3 strikes by 50%.
.
