Prop 34 and Prop 36
Proposition 34: the End the Death Penalty Initiative
The initiative to end the death penalty in California, titled Proposition 34, if passed will replace the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Specifically, the proposition will: apply retroactively to prisoners currently sentenced to death, require those found guilty of murder to work to pay any victim restitution fines or orders against them, and earmark $100 million to go toward helping solve rape and homicide cases.
According to California state records, the death penalty system costs taxpayers more than $114 million a year, which doesn’t include the amount spent on court cases to prosecute capital cases. The estimated cost of a capital punishment trial is $2 million, which includes legal costs, pre-tail costs, and jury selection.
I recommend voting yes on Proposition 34 because: California taxpayers would save an over $100 million a year and funds will be allocated to solve rape cases, which are consistently backlogged due to lack of funding.
From the queer perspective, injustice cuts across sexuality, race, gender, and class. As Martin Luther King Jr. said an injustice to one is an injustice to all, and of course, there is a significant MSM population in the prison system, several of which could be on death row. If those inmates have families that they are supporting, outside of the criminal justice system, voting yes on Prop 34, could positively impact their families.
victor yates 