In our last update, we mentioned that the Assembly Appropriations Committee would hear SB 490, which would send to the ballot a measure on banning or maintaining the state’s death penalty. In an update, that bill has been withdrawn by its author, Sen. Loni Hancock, because there were not enough votes for it to get out of committee. However, this setback hasn’t deterred the bill’s supporters. The group California Taxpayers for Justice is unveiling the SAFE California Act, which is an initiative that would replace capital punishment with life imprisonment without parole. The Bee reports that supporters “include Gil Garcetti, the former Los Angeles district attorney who has prosecuted dozens of death penalty cases, Jeanne Woodford, the former warden of San Quentin State Prison who oversaw four executions and is now the executive director of Death Penalty Focus; Gloria Killian, who spent 16 years in prison for a crime she says she didn't commit; and Judy Kerr, whose brother's killer is still at large.”

The group has just submitted a proposal to the Attorney General for title and summary. Gil Garcetti, former Los Angeles District Attorney, commented that “The death penalty in California is broken and unfixable. How many of our citizens know that 46% of all murders and 56% of all rapes in the average year in our state go unsolved? The SAFE California Act will prevent crimes. It will make our families safer than they are today.”

Read more about The SAFE California Act here.