Govs. Davis, Wilson, Deukmejian Back Death Penalty Initiative

This initiative would move in the opposite direction from Proposition 34, which voters narrowly rejected in 2012.  That measure would have abolished the death penalty.  This one would streamline the notoriously slow appeals process.

Democrat Gray Davis joined Republicans Pete Wilson and George Deukmejian to kick off the campaign’s signature-gathering process.  Davis says this is the solution the three former governors promised voters when they opposed Prop 34.

“This initiative will correct the flaws, reduce the cost and give both victims and defendants a quicker path to justice – while fully preserving all the due process rights of the defendant,” the governor told Capital Public Radio in a phone interview Thursday.

Former Los Angeles County District Attorney Gil Garcetti backed Prop 34 and opposes this initiative.  He says California’s death penalty is beyond repair.

“Everyone now agrees the death penalty is not a deterrent.  It is simply an act of revenge by society.  And is this the best way to spend this money?” Garcetti said.

California last executed a death row inmate in 2006, as federal and state lawsuits have blocked the current lethal injection process.