California, it's time to vote YES on Proposition 34. It's time to replace our costly, risky and broken death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole.
I believe so strongly in Prop 34, that I didn't hesitate for a second to lend my voice to the campaign. And when I heard the story of Franky Carrillo, it deepened my conviction even more.
Franky spent 20 years in prison for a murder he had nothing to do with. Today, as a free man, he spends his time urging California voters to vote YES on 34, to ensure that we never execute an innocent person in California.
Now, with your help, MILLIONS of TV viewers across the state will learn that with the death penalty we always risk the execution of an innocent person. A person like Franky.
Watch the new Yes on 34 advertisement, narrated by my friend Martin Sheen -- and please share it with everyone you know!
A truly All-Star team came together to help share Franky's powerful story of wrongful conviction with you, the voters of California. Franky was not only joined by the incredible Martin Sheen, but also by acclaimed actor and director Edward James Olmos as our Spanish language narrator, Grammy and Academy-Award winner and world-famous musician Hans Zimmer who provided production assistance and Lili Haydn who composed the music.
Please join the Yes on 34 All-Star Team -- watch and share Franky's story with everyone you know!
Voting Yes on Proposition 34 makes sense for California. We can save $130 million every single year by replacing the death penalty with life in prison without the possibility of parole. Many people don't realize that the death penalty is far more expensive than life without parole, or most inmates dies of old age. Our money can be better spent on education and on tools that actually improve safety in our communities, like testing DNA evidence and investigating unsolved murders. We can also make sure that California never makes a fatal mistake by executing an innocent person.
But in order for Proposition 34 to win, voters need to hear the facts about the high cost of the death penalty and the risk of executing an innocent person. That's where you come in. If you share Franky's ad on your Facebook page, on Twitter and email it to all your friends, his powerful story will reach more voters. Reaching more voters means more YES votes on election day.
I'm honored to be lending my time to the Yes on 34 campaign and to help them share the facts with California voters about the real costs of the death penalty. But with just two weeks left until the election, we need your help now to spread to word far and wide.
Onward to justice that works for everyone.
Yes on 34.
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Jeanne Woodford: Yes on 34 Takes the Lead
Please, think about the victims of these crimes. Because in the end, the victims lose again....
Get some balls California and start executing !
The bible says Thou Shalt Not Kill. There is no self-defense in the death penalty and it is my belief that it is a marked lack of faith and an affront to God in not trusting Him to avenge us as He promised.
And finally for the cost vs punishment: Instead of the death penalty - some crimes should come with the option to suicide. This option is only for crimes for which a death penalty is/was considered. Rather than take on the responsibility/sin of the death onto the State and the people employed to carry it out - allow the guilty 1 to 3 years or less for their own suicide. To take this option the defendant must waive all rights to appeal- whether they complete it or not. If they carry it out - done deal. We only have to provide space, tools and opportunity. The defendant can choose whether to complete it or not. But choosing this option eliminates all appeals for the future and the associated costs and is final. Life with no parole if not chosen.
Certain Crimes should be punished by death. People say its too expensive?
Heres how I would bring down prison costs, Legalize drugs and focus on education and treatment.. BOOM there goes 1/2 of the prison population right there.
Now we have enough $$ and space to house murders child rapists and bank robbers.
So 'Please hammer dont hurt me' I truley believe that the Death Penelty is 'to legit to quit', 'you have to pray' that reforms come so that innocent men 'can't touch this'(death row)..
I thank you for your honest plea in this blog. As someone who grew up very pro-death penalty, my views have changed over the years. My reasoning: as you and I both know (from my limited understanding of your personal life), the point is changed lives not ended lives. This is the same reason why I cringed at the pictures and videos of people celebrating the death of Osama Bin Laden. Is the world safer without a leading terrorist? Probably. Are we as a culture better off for celebrating his death? Probably not. The biggest arguments for this are 1) justice and 2) money. I have no answer for the issue of justice. How is justice served when someone's life is taken? This is a puzzling question that is almost too horrible to have to answer. As far as money is concerned, how do we place a monetary amount on a human life? This is an issue that should never come down to money. Why not? Because we have no idea how and when someone's life can be changed for the better...eternally.
Because of these types of dealings taking place in our justice system, I cannot support the death penalty.
I heard a lecture given by a former Governor of Illinois talk about the corruption in Chicago and police beating confessions from people and him getting a stay of execution of a man that was subjected to such beatings.
He says it best, even if the Justice system is right 99% of the time, what about the 1%. How do you explain to the 1%, that they executed the wrong man..
That is why I don't approve of the death penalty, our justice system just is not credible enough to have that power.
We had a Judge caught masturbating during the closing arguments of a 2nd degree murder trial. That is the kind of people we have ruling over death penalties.
That many innocent defendants had been wrongly convicted and sentenced in capital cases was already widely suspected by the time DNA science became available to confirm this fact.
Death is different....irreversable...what's the hurry?
A fact often lost on those anxious to see as many defendants as possible executed is that an erroneous conviction is not only an injustice to defendant and his family ...but to the VICTIMS in whose name they seek the penalty...because somewhere...a guilty man walks free.
The fact that there have been a couple hundred exonerations can only lead one to conclude that MANY innocent defendants were likely executed in the days before DNA testing.
Enough, already
TM
were good law abiding people. I suspect they all were some kind of criminal.
Not helping society but destroying it.
Stop the on going BS appeals and get rid of them.
Tx mom gets 99 years for gluing her kids hands to the wall and bruising blows (no permanent damage). 4 Tx gang rapists of 11 yr old girl (nearly permanent damage) got 15 yrs each. Vehicular homicide (irreversable damage to the victim) 5-10 years.
But, using that logic, what punishment would “match” the crime of an individual who set off a WMD in a major city? We would most likely sentence that person to death. Payment-in-kind. But the scope of harm and carnage that has been perpetrated against humanity cannot be “matched” with the punishment of a singular and potentially sterile and quick death.
At this, I can imagine impassioned arguments insisting that justice must be done, but, I submit that what he “deserves” is far worse than we can physically and more importantly, ethically, inflict upon him. And yes, there are those who would gleefully cross even those ethical boundaries if given the chance.
Let’s call it what it is: Retribution. There are many that support it, and I can empathize. But, it’s more about revenge than it is an efficient way to “match” the crime. I personally find the idea of a murderer suddenly ceasing to exist as punishment, disproportionate to the suffering and loss that the surviving victims and/or their families must endure for the rest of their lives. But, let’s face it. Revenge is often the only comfort for some, though a cold one.