Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Our Stance on Prop 34 (Hint: We are for it)



Prop 34 Fact Sheet


What is Prop 34?
If Prop 34 passes it will mark the end of the death penalty here in California. This applies to all future murder convictions and current inmates on death row. These inmates will then in turn be sentenced to life in prison without parole and will be put to work with wages going to victim compensation funds to the victims' families. If voted yes, it will become effective the day after election. We fully support proposition 34 as it not only will save money but it also promotes respect for human dignity and non-maleficence, which are key components to our profession as evidenced by our nursing Code of Ethics. (ANA, 2010)

Evidence:
  • Abolishing the death penalty is projected to save the state $1 billion over the next five years and save California taxpayers $100 million every year (Safe California, 2012).
  • In the last 6 years there have been no executions. Since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978, only 13 people have been executed despite having over 720 prisoners on death row. It has cost us a total of $4.6 billion since 1978, which is just over $350 million per execution (Alarcon & Mitchell, 2011). That does not seem like an efficient use of our tax dollars.
  • Additionally, a onetime $100 million portion will go to the SAFE California fund which is dedicated to solving rape and murder cases in California. The funds will be used to quickly process evidence in rape and murder cases, DNA testing, and the hiring of more investigators (Attorney General, 2011).
  • Death penalty trials are 20 times more expensive than trials seeking life in prison without the possibility of parole; California has spent $4 billion on death penalty since 1978 (Safe California, 2012).
  • Today, less than 1% of inmates on death row work to pay restitution to victims, but under this ballot measure, every person convicted of murder will be required to work and earn money for the victim’s compensation fund (Safe California, 2012).
  • Over 140 people have been exonerated after being wrongly sentenced to death in this country; California will always be at risk for executing an innocent person if the death penalty is not eliminated (Safe California, 2012).

Get Involved!
Text YesOn34 to 74700 to receive Prop. 34 updates
www.yeson34.org
www.prop34.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/yeson34




Fact Sheet References

Alarcon, A. L., & Mitchell, P. M. (2011). California cost-study 2011. Retrieved

ANA. (2010). Code of ethics for nurses with interpretive statements. Retrieved
CodeofEthicsforNurses/Code-of-Ethics.pdf

Attorney General. (2012). Proposed law: the SAFE California act. Retrieved from:  
http://ag.ca.gov/cms_attachments/initiatives/pdfs/i978_1-0035_(repeal_the_death_penalty).pdf?

SAFE California, (2012). Be safe and replace california’s death penalty with life without the  possibility of parole. Retrieved from website: http://www.safecalifornia.org/facts/body/SAFECAFactsabouttheDeathPenalty.pdf
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10 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 8, 2012 at 2:55 PM

    Wow, i didn't even know the death penalty was costing us this much money...Do you guys know how much it would cost for these death row inmates to be back in prisons?

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  2. CarlAugust 8, 2012 at 3:56 PM

    Hey, Lacy. So the average cost of a life-term sentence is $1.5 million. Since there are just about 720 inmates on death row, that calculates to about $1.08 Billion. That is to take care of them for life. In the next five years, if passed, we'd have already saved $1 billion. And the savings will only grow as time goes on.

    http://www.heartsandminds.org/prisons/facts.htm



    http://www.heartsandminds.org/prisons/facts.htm

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  3. KirbyAugust 8, 2012 at 5:00 PM

    Wow, great job guys! This seems like the cost of the death penalty is costing us a lot of money during this economy. I'm bleeding money as it is, and I just can't have money investing into all this "death penalty" business. I was wondering if you guys know what other options that are cheaper than the death penalty we can pursue to bring justice to criminals??

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  4. LuigiAugust 8, 2012 at 5:18 PM

    Hey Kirby! Thanks for your post. There is life without parole which cost much less than the death penalty. The death penalty cost about $2 million per case in opposed to life without parole which costs $1 million per 50 years. I hope this answers your question, have a great day :)

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  5. KirbyAugust 8, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    Thanks for the info, great job guys! Keep it up!

    ReplyDelete
  6. KateAugust 8, 2012 at 5:32 PM

    Wouldn't there be overcrowding of prisons if Prop 34 gets passed though? =(

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  7. UnknownAugust 8, 2012 at 9:59 PM

    Ok. I'm confused. If we take care of them for life, it costs a lot of money. But, if this passes and they are not killed by the government sentence, wouldn't that mean they will still be alive and be requiring money to sustain them in prison?

    Bluntly, if we carry out their death sentence, wouldn't it be cheaper than keeping them alive for the rest of their life?

    -Devil's Advocate

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  8. CarlAugust 8, 2012 at 10:21 PM

    @Kate Yea, unfortunately it will only add to the overcrowding. But the overcrowding in prisons are still cheaper than the current overcrowding in the special facilities that house death row inmates.

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  9. CarlAugust 8, 2012 at 10:22 PM

    @ Jo: Yea, it would be cheaper in theory, but the average process of being sentenced to death to execution takes 25 years. And in those 25 years they are housed in costly single cell units with specialized supervision. They also have more court appearances and mandatory appeals along the way that require specialized lawyer representation. And of course, there will always be ethical implementation and argument that will further delay the process.

    With a life sentence without parole, that is all out of the picture.

    tl;dr: If we executed all of them today it would be cheaper, but the process takes about 25 years with costly necessities so in reality it is costing us a lot more than it should.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Gael Sami August 18, 2012 at 6:08 AM

    How do you balance the overcrowding with the budget cuts of $1 BILLION in CA to the prison system? which includes eliminating all new construction?

    http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/04/california-prisons-unveil-plan-downsize.html

    http://articles.latimes.com/2012/jun/16/local/la-me-state-budget-box-20120616

    ReplyDelete

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