Connor Moser's Individual Part

Connor Moser

Professor Rosenfeld

English 115

26 November 2012    

Death Penalty Blog

Main Idea:

The death penalty has remained a highly controversial topic since the 1970’s when it was restored in California Law. In the 2012 Election, Proposition 34 was introduced to repeal the death penalty. Split on a 53% difference, Prop. 34 failed and the death penalty remained in California. On one side, proponents of the death penalty argue its purpose to punish the most heinous of crimes is necessary – but the system of execution needs to be fixed. The opponents of the death penalty argue its expense, hundred of millions of dollars a year, as well as its ethical interest in some arguments. Instead of executing criminals, opponents of the death penalty prefer to place the incarcerated in life sentences without chance of parole.

Link & Analysis:

http://www.mercurynews.com/elections/ci_21943752/california-proposition-34-voters-decide-whether-keep-states

“Proposition 34: Death penalty repeal fails” by Howard Mintz and Matt O’Brien provides a brief overview of Proposition 34 and its place in the 2012 presidential election. Representing both sides of the death penalty debate, Mintz and O’Brien explain the financial crisis posed by keeping inmates on death row and the injustice of letting the most heinous criminals live their lives unpunished. After reading, I feel that life in prison without parole is cruel punishment. Worse than being condemned to death, inmates must suffer every single day of their lives without any chance of forgiveness or escape. They are forced to live their lives in a prison – no longer a person with any value or importance in societies eyes. Without the death penalty, prisoners would be forced to this option.

Important Quotes:

“The people of California sent a clear message that the death penalty should still be implemented for those who commit the most heinous and unthinkable crimes," McGregor Scott, former United States Attorney and Co-Chair for No on Prop 34, said in a statement.

                                                      

“Natasha Minsker, manager of the Proposition 34 campaign, indicated the vote would not be the last political effort to abolish the death penalty.

‘This issue is not going away," she said Wednesday. "53 percent is not a mandate for carrying out executions. This state is clearly evenly divided on the death penalty."

“But law enforcement officials, victims' rights groups and three of California's former governors aligned against the measure, arguing that the death penalty should be preserved for the state's most heinous killers. They refuted the potential cost savings, saying the estimates were inflated and that the ponderous death penalty system should be repaired, not replaced.”

Visual Argument:

Those against the death penalty fail to see the fact that death row inmates are usually not executed because of California’s ongoing debate over the method of lethal injection. Just as this dog looks as if it should be put out of its misery, inmates sentences to life in prison without parole would be stuck in this condition for the rest of their lives – an unethical and torturous way to live.

About Me

By creating and further editing this blog, I hope that my readers will understand both sides of Prop 34, and will be able to understand the pros and cons of voting yes or no on Prop 34.  Readers will be able to understand expert opinions and be able to further analysis photos and videos.  This project was a very different approach to studying and writing about a topic.  It was a different way of writing in the way that it wasn't just a traditional paper with an intro, three body paragraphs, and a conclusion.  It also was a very involved project in the fact that we had to work as a group, and in our case, a small three person group.  I have learned from this project that blogs can be a very effective way of expressing one's opinion.  I also learned by observing others blogs, that blogs can be a good way of researching a specific topic by viewing peoples comments on a blog.  For my readers, I suggest reading a blog and actually looking at the comments and conversations.  It actually helps further understand about the topic and leaving comments can also help the blog writer further their information by maybe adding a new section.

-Sarkis Yevrenyan



Our group learned a lot by doing this blog. The death penalty is a highly controversial subject that every californian should be well educated about. It's nearly impossible to form a solid opinion of the matter without doing a fair share of research - which our group condensed and simplified for our audience.

- Connor Moser

Main Idea


Prop 34 is about the death penalty.  This prop was repealed with a 52.6% vote for NO, and 47.4% for YES.  A yes on this prop would replace the death penalty with a sentence of life without parole.  It would also fund for 100 million dollars to law enforcement agencies for investigations of homicide and rape cases.  It then would take all those who are on death row, and transfer them to life without chance of parole.  Supporters of this prop say that this eliminates the chance of putting someone on death row, having them killed, them later finding out they were innocent.  When one is on death row, they have many chances to make appeals, and many of these criminals take advantage of this opportunity, and keep making as many as appeals as legally possible.  The average time on death row in California is almost 30 years.  By the time someone who is placed on death row actually gets this lethal dose, it is more than likely that they will die of natural causes or suicide.  Life without a chance of parole is also cheaper than the lethal dose required to kill someone on death row. A no on this prop would leave things as is, and not cause for any extra taxes.  Many of the people who voted no on this prop argue that it costs more money to maintain a prisoner on life without parole than it does to maybe one who last a lighter sentence.  This is due to the fact that they are considered more dangerous and need individual cells in prisons and require more attention than normal prisoners.  Although this might be true in some cases, California has very secure prisons and a nice classifying system, so this doesn't weigh as much into the equation.

Link & Analysis 
This video is a Yes on prop 34 commercial

This video tells of a person who was put in jail for murder he did not commit.  This is an example of a person who was wrongly convicted and given a sentence to stay in jail.  This person was lucky he was given a sentence for jail time, and not death.  By replacing the death penalty with the next harshest sentence, life in jail without possibility of parole, we are eliminating the chance of anything like this happening.


Significant Quotes


Opponents of the death penalty say, "The solution is to fix it; not abolish it."
They are referencing to the current death penalty process.  This process includes a 3 dose system, which is sometimes called unconstitutional, because it is cruel and unusual.  Adopting a 1 dose system, like many other states who use the death penalty as a maximum sentence.  The current process also includes a long appeals process.  This is why the current sentence of death is so costly, because those on death row keep making as many appeals as legally possible, and this is why the average waiting period on death row is almost 30 years.  The courts should allow a limited amount of appeals, and a limited time on death row before execution.  Another step to limit the cost of those on death row would be to move California death row prisoners from their individual cells in the San Quentin prison the normal prisons with maybe group cells.  All these steps would make the cost of getting a death sentence less expensive, and maybe would will see more results.  The fact is, the last time someone on California's death row was executed was in 2006, this big gap in between executions is due to the long appeals process.  Currently, California's death row includes 724 murderers, killers, and rapists.

Supports of prop 34, like Former Warden Jeanne Woodford say, "Instead of spending hundreds of millions of dollars to kill him, what if we spent that money on other foster children".
She is referencing to the Massie execution in 2001.  Massie was put on death row in 1965 for murdering a mother of two.  Then the death penalty was banned in 1978, so he was put in prison with a possibility of parole.  He was released in 1978.  Months later, he was convicted of killing a 61 year old liquor store owner, and returned back onto death row.  Then finally in 2001, he was executed by the lethal dose.  Warden Jeanne Woodford says that executing a person like this is unnecessary.  A person like this has to be kept away from society, and death is not the only way of doing that.  Life in prison without a possibility of parole is a more humane option, and more importantly, a cheaper one too.  With a yes on 34, California also gets funding to better the police system, and put more money into cases of people who received maximum punishment.  Massie grew up in a corrupted foster system, and this very likely led to his actions as an adult.  Jeanne Woodford is saying that it is better to fund money into projects and prevent people to grow up like this instead of spend it later to convict them.

Visual Argument

This is a cartoon of supporters of Prop 34.  The judge is leaning over the grave saying "knock knock, great news! Your DNA came back and you're innocent!".  This is making fun of the fact that someone maybe wrongfully executed then years later, the truth come out and be innocent.  This is the whole campaign of the supporters of Prop 34, to prevent wrongful convicting someone.

Refrences 

http://off2dr.com/modules/rmgallery/uploads/media2/catrow061900.JPG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txD6C9lw7gY&feature=player_embedded

http://www.safecalifornia.org/news/videos/lifetime-of-experience

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/1265/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=11059

-Sarkis Yevrenyan

The Cons

Capital punishment is a difficult medium in our government to debate because there are so many different views of why it should be kept or not, some are moral, some are more pragmatic. There are a lot of problems with it. First off, it's costing American big bucks. Billions of taxpayer dollars are being spent on it, money that could be used elsewhere, like possibly getting us out of debt. We are billions of dollars in debt and putting people on death row is just increasing that. Richard C. Dieter states, "The death penalty is clearly more expensive than a system handling similar cases with lesser punishment." These costs come from a variety of factors. First there's the cost of everything needed in a regular trial that doesn't concern death as punishment. Added onto that is more pre-trial time, experts, more attorneys, 2 trials instead of one, and a series of appeals. The many factors and lengthy trial period cause the death row process to have an extremely high price accredited with it. Life imprisonment without parol would be a better option because citizens still wouldn't have to worry about that person being out on the streets, and it's much cheaper.

Another problem with the death penalty is that it gets rid of a wrongly accused person's possible chance of proving themselves innocent. The man in the photograph to the right, Carlos Deluna, was convicted of murder and executed. Later evidence showed that he had not committed the crime and was wrongly accused. There are many others like this and most of the similar cases that could be out there are unknown since usually once a person is executed, the search for the criminal ends. Over 1,000 people have been executed since 1979 and there is a high change that many of those cases were flawed and the person was not guilty. That possibility of ending the life of an innocent man or woman makes many including myself believe that capital punishment should be demolished immediately, because quite frankly, a judge and the jury never know for sure what happened or who did what, all they can do is vote on what appears to be the case. Illinois Supreme Court Justice Moses Harrison II comments, “Despite the courts efforts to fashion a death penalty scheme that is just, fair and reliable, the system is not working. Innocent people are being sentenced to death......It is no answer to say that we are doing the best that we can. If this is the best our state can do, we have no business sending people to their deaths.” The fact is that no matter what evidence the court is given, there will be cases where there is a mistake and the evidence is flawed leading an innocent suspect to be wrongly condemned of the crime at hand leading to an unjust execution.

-Michelle R.

http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42

http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/executed-possibly-innocent

http://deathpenalty.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=002000

Final Thoughts & Conclusion

The Death Penalty is, as it has been since its inception, a highly controversial topic. As seen in the past election, California is split at 53% for the death penalty - almost a perfect divide. The death penalty remains in effect this year as voters passed proposition 34. Our group has taken a pro death penalty position because of the unethical punishment entailed by life in prison without chance for parole (the proposed alternative to the death penalty). Many families of victims feel the death penalty is an appropriate punishment for criminals who commit the most heinous of crimes. Our group believes the death penalty is a reprieve from life in prison without parole. A criminal sentenced in this fashion becomes a dead individual in the eyes of the government, as well as society. A prisoner is forced to suffer the rest of his life  in prison no matter what, with no chance of redemption or escape. The death penalty is, admittedly, a flawed system as it stands. Instead of eradicating the death penalty, it simply needs revision to expedite and streamline the process, according to many officials. All in all, our group retains its pro death penalty position as it stands today.

- Connor Moser

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Prop 34?

This measure would have abolished the death penalty in California and replaced it with life imprisonment without parole. It also would have issued $100 million to be distributed to law enforcement agencies to put towards solving homicide and rape cases.

How much has California spent due to the death penalty so far and how much annually?

Our beloved state has spent over $4 billion since 1978 on capitol punishment. Annually, we now spend around $184 million per year on it.

How much does it cost for a person to be on death row vs. life imprisonment?

Annually, it costs over $90,000 per person on death row and 27,000 per year for a person on lifetime incarceration.

How many people have been executed in California because of the death penalty?

Since 1976 there has been 13 executions

How many people are on death row in California as of now?

721 inmates are currently on death row

-Michelle R.

Sources

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/14thamendment.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2011/sep/21/death-penalty-statistics-us#data

http://www.deathpenalty.org/article.php?id=42