CALIFORNIA (USA): DEATH PENALTY REPEAL INITIATIVE QUALIFIES FOR BALLOT

April 23, 2012: Secretary of State Debra Bowen’s Office confirmed that enough signatures have been verified to put the SAFE California Act  to repeal the death penalty before voters.
If voters approve, the measure would replace the death penalty with a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
That change in law would save the state $184 million a year by closing down death row and reducing the number of drawn-out appeals in the state and federal court system. The initiative would also require inmates to work in prison to help pay restitution to the families of victims, and would send $30 million annually for three years to local law enforcement agencies to help solve murder and rape cases.
“The law is totally ineffective and obscenely expensive,” said supporter Gil Garcetti, former Los Angeles District Attorney who once favored the death penalty. Some of those savings would be steered to investigate unsolved murders and rape cases, according to initiative backers.
The measure is dubbed the “Savings, Accountability, and Full Enforcement for California Act,” also known as the SAFE California Act.
It’s the fifth measure to qualify for the November ballot, the California secretary of state announced Monday.
Supporters collected more than the 504,760 valid signatures needed to place the measure on the ballot. (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, Associated Press, 23/04/2012)