If you live in California or know anyone who does, please get the word out that Proposition 66 will streamline enforcement of the death penalty. Unfortunately, the ballot label is so confusing that many people may not know what they are voting on. Voters who lack information on ballot measures tend to either skip the measure or vote no. It is imperative not only that 66 pass but that it get more "yes" votes than the repeal measure, Proposition 62. – Kent Scheidegger
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A condemned inmate is led out of his cell on death row at San Quentin
State Prison. Proposition 62 would repeal California’s death penalty and
replace it with life without parole. Eric Risberg The Associated Press
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November 1,
2016 4:02 PM
California
prison guards have good reasons to fear death penalty repeal
By Chuck Alexander
Special to The Bee
As correctional peace officers working inside
California prisons, we take Proposition 62 very personally, because it directly impacts
our safety and the safety of the inmates we oversee.
Proposition 62 would repeal California’s death
penalty law, putting inmates and correctional officers at serious risk. The
Sacramento Bee’s editorial board supports it (“End the illusion: Abolish the death penalty,” Endorsement,
Oct. 9).
But without
the death penalty, what would deter an inmate serving life without the
possibility of parole from killing again inside prison? Another life sentence?
In fact, the
death penalty is our last line of defense, the one deterrent left that could
give pause to an inmate with a murderous history who’s thinking about attacking
a correctional officer or fellow inmate.
California’s
maximum-security prisons can be dangerous places. Most inmates have been
convicted of numerous felony offenses. Many are hardened criminals with gang
affiliations and long histories of serious and violent crime. Most want to
serve their time without incident. But for those who don’t, we need the death
penalty.
Correctional
officers are vastly outnumbered. It’s sobering to walk across a prison yard
filled with hundreds of inmates, when all you carry is a baton and a can of
pepper spray. On average, nine correctional officers are assaulted every day.
Without the death penalty, this number would likely soar.
The safety of
inmates is also jeopardized by Proposition 62. They are also in an
unpredictable environment in which gang rivalries, anger-management issues and
growing mental illness are constant threats. They live with inmates who have
committed horrific crimes of violence, including child murderers, sexual
killers and serial killers who tortured their victims without mercy. Take away
the death penalty and the final restraint on them has been lifted.
For those of
us on the inside, this isn’t a philosophical debate over whether the death
penalty is morally justified, or a matter of retribution. In our world, it’s a
practical matter of survival. The death penalty helps keep us safe.
Chuck
Alexander is president of the California Correctional Peace Officers
Association. He can be contacted at charles.alexander@ccpoa.org.
INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/op-ed/soapbox/article111876187.html
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| Chuck Alexander |
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