20 years ago on this date, October
1, 1993, Polly Klaas was kidnapped murdered by Richard Allen Davis who is still
alive on California’s Death Row. We, the VFFDP, will never forget her and her
grieving family members. We have an article written by her father, Marc Klaas
last year and we have two previous blog posts on her.
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Marc Klaas (left) and
his daughter, Polly Klaas (Right)
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Vote No on Proposition 34
Posted on
July 17, 2012 at 12:05 pm
My
daughter Polly’s killer
has been on death row since 1996. This November, California voters will be
asked to overturn his sentence and the death sentences of 724
other serial killers, baby killers, cop killers and mass murderers. Of
those, 126
involved torture before murder, 173 killed children and 44 murdered police
officers. Proposition
34 will appear on California’s ballot to retroactively outlaw the death
penalty in favor of life without the possibility of parole.
Proposition
34 is being led by so-called abolitionists associated with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), who
claim that we should abolish the death penalty because it’s broken. Ironically,
they point to today’s administrative bottlenecks, many of which they themselves
created over the years, as justification. They believe that voters will be
fooled into approving an initiative that will reward evil scum under the guise
of alleged cost saving.
The
true solution is more simple: If the death penalty is broken, mend it, don’t
end it.
First,
adopt one
standard drug for executions. Several states, including Ohio, Washington
and Arizona, use a constitutionally-valid single drug for executions. Since 2009,
Ohio has conducted 14 executions using this method. Executions in California,
however, have been delayed because death penalty opponents endlessly file
appeals claiming the current three-drug method is unconstitutional because it
may be “cruel and unusual.” The final 10 minutes of a remorseless killer’s life
are not legitimate grounds to delay the death penalty.
Second,
Prop. 34 supporters assert that the final appeals process and the death penalty
itself is too expensive for the state to maintain. Yet there is no objective
data that the elimination of the death penalty will save money. The studies
relied upon by death penalty opponents were created based on their own data and
their credibility is highly questionable. The only unbiased study to determine
the true cost was done by the RAND
Corporation, a nonpartisan organization that aims to improve policy and
decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND found there was no objective
data available to give a true estimate of the costs of the death penalty.
There
certainly is no question that the automatic appeals process is arduous and
burdensome. Over the years, there have been many legislative and constitutional
efforts to fix this problem. Retired California Supreme Court Chief Justice
Ronald George endorsed a constitutional
amendment to allow appeals courts to hear such appeals, which would significantly
reduce costs and delays. Other recommendations have been to modify and limit
the time for filing certain types of appeals and to require defense attorneys
to take appeals. Currently, California has more than 175,000 practicing
attorneys, yet only about 100 are qualified to represent automatic appeals.
Unfortunately,
elected officials who advocate on behalf of death row inmates never allow those
legislative changes to see the light of day. On April 17, I testified before
the state senate public safety committee on two measures that would have
streamlined the process. Senate Bill 1514
would have eliminated the automatic appeal in cases, like Polly’s, where guilt
was never in doubt. It was defeated by a straight party vote. Senate
Constitutional Amendment 20 (SCA 20) would have amended the California
constitution so that appeals of death penalty cases would go to the California
Court of Appeals instead of the California Supreme Court. Our 105 Appeals Court
justices would be able to rule on many more death penalty appeals than the
seven Supreme Court justices, greatly easing the backlog. SCA 20 was defeated
because it would cost too much.
The
death penalty has historically been supported by a majority of Californians.
The law of the land and the will of the people have been subverted by
administrative shenanigans, frivolous appeals, endless delays and moral
bankruptcy. The very individuals and organizations that have created a broken
system in California now want the voters to legitimize their misanthropic
actions.
California’s
Proposition 34 mocks our system of crime and punishment as it attempts to give
our worst criminals the very thing that they denied their victims: the right to
live their lives in safety and die in peace.
CHECK
THESE TWO PREVIOUS BLOG POSTS:
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Marc Klaas (left) and
his daughter, Polly Klaas (Right)
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