would elim minate the death p enaltty eliminate penalty and rreplace eplac p e it with lif fe in p prison and life no chanc o par ole. The pr oposition’s chancee of parole. proposition’s ffoundation oundation is built on a 2011 study that o ffound ound ccapital o apittal punishment to b osttbee ccosthea avvyy, with ffew ew b enefits. Supp orters heavy, benefits. Supporters include R o on n Briggs Ron Briggs,, the man who wr ote the original o 1977 initiativ ve that wrote initiative toughened the death p enalty, and penalty, JJeanne eanne W oodffor o d, eexecutive xecutive dir ector Woodford, director of Death P e ty F enalt ocus and fformer o ormer Penalty Focus San Quenti in w arden. Quentin warden. The opp o osition includes the opposition Sacramento oC ountty Deput ty Sheriff ’’ss County Deputy A ssociation n and, surprisingly y, mor Association surprisingly, moree than a ffew ew inmates i on San Quentin n’s Quentin’s Death R o ow w, who ffeel eeel the y’ll lose Row, they’ll opp ortunitties to app eal their opportunities appeal sentenc es. K eeping in mind the fla aw ws sentences. Keeping flaws in the judic ial ssystem ystem that ha ave lead to judicial have cconvictions on nvictions v and eexecutions xecutions of inno cent innocent p eople in th he U nited St ates, as well as people the United States, the ccosts osts of the death rrow ow ssystem ystem itself during a tim me of huge fisc al crisis time fiscal crisis,, we rrecommend ecommend d a “y yees” vvote ote on Pr op. 34. “yes” Prop.
No on P Prop. rop. 33 3
No on Prop. Prop. 3 35 5
When C California aliffo ornia vvoters oterss shot down Prop. theyy se sent Pr op. 17 in 2010, the ent a message to one one-percenter -percenter Geor George ge JJoseph, oseph, Mercury Insurance, CEO of Mer cury Insura ance, that his deceptive dec eptive initiativ initiative ve faile failed ed the smell Voters shouldn’t get test. V oters o shouldn ’t ge et ffooled ooled again, as JJoseph oseph has rreturned etu urned with a warmed-over selfw aarmed-over vversion eersion off the same self finterested inter ested legislation. Th The he idea is to “discounts” drivers an allow “disc ounts” to driv vers who ccan prove pr ove the they’ve y’ve pur purchased chased d ccar ar insuranc insurancee five ccontinuously ontinuously ffor or o fiv ve yyears. e . If that ears seems do dodgy, dggy, it it’s ’s b because ecause it is is,, and spent moree than JJoseph oseph has sp ent mor t $8 million of his own mone moneyy to pa pass ass the bill. Instead of disc discounting ountin ng rates rates,, Pr Prop. op. 33 “will allow insuranc insurancee ccompanies ompanies to incr increase ease ccost ost of insur insurance, rance,” according ac cording to the at attorney tttorn ney general. The Depar Department tment of Ins Insurance surance has said that the initiativ initiativee “will “ rresult esult in a sur surcharge” charge” ffor o or man manyy driv d drivers, ers, and it p penalizes enalizes rresponsible esponsiblee driv drivers vers e who ffor or whate o whatever ver e rreason eason ha had d no need ffor o or auto insuranc insurancee in the past p past—people —people who bik bikee to work, b become ecome o injur injured ed and ccannot annot driv drivee or liv livee in cities with dependable dep endable public tran transportation. nsportation. If Mer Mercury cury Insuranc Insurance’s e’s terrible t rreputation eputation do doesn’t esn’t sink k this initiativ initiative, e, the electorate electorate’s ’s intellige intelligence ence should.
Yess on P Ye Prop. rop. 34 Prop. Pr op. 34 would mak make ke C California a fo alif ornia the 19th st state ate to ab abolish olish h the death penalty. p enaltty. If passed, the pr proposition roposition
No one ar No argues rgu gues that b better etttter public p policy olicy prevent isn’t to pr eveent human h trafficking isn n’’t needed. U Unfortunately, nffo n ortunatelyy, the de devil evvil is in the details this measure. det taails of thi is ballot measur e. Ambiguous language an and nd br broad oad definitions would dangerous both set up dange erous challenges to b oth the rights g of vict victims tims and of susp suspects, pects, while at time putting burdensome new the same tim me put ttting bur rdensome d ne ew rrequirements equiremen nts on lo local caal la law aw enf enforcement fo orcement that are already overwhelmed agencies tha at ar re alr eady o veerwhelmed in tracking the t st state’s ate’s 9 90,000-plus 0,000-plus sex offenders. rregistered egistered se ex off ffeenders. Consensual Consensual rrelationships elationship ps b between ettween w teenagers hovering above below ho oveering ab ove and b elow the age of 18 ccould ould also o o fall into a legal gra gray ay ar area. ea. Its clums clumsy sy cconstruction o onstruction pr presents esents b both oth enforcement enf fo orcemen nt challenges and p personal ersonal freedom fr reeedom issu issues ues serious enough g to send Prop Pr ro op 35 back k to the drafting ttable. able.
Yess onn P Ye Prop. rop. 36 In 19 1994, 94, C California alliffo ornia vvoters oters appr approved oved Prop. Pr op. 184, the th he “three-strikes “three-strikes law. laaw.” Spearheaded Sp earheadeed b byy Mik Mikee R Reynolds, eynolds, father of 18-year-old 18-yeearr-old Kimb Kimber er R Reynolds, eynolds, who was w as mur murdered derred during a b botched otched purse rrobbery, obber e y, the la law’s aw w’s goal w was aas to put violent ccareer areer criminals b behind ehind bars ffor or lif o life. fe. U Unfortunately, nffor o tunatelyy, far to too o many man ny non nonviolent nviolent v off offenders—who’ve ffeenders—who’ve rreceived eceived a th third hird strik strikee ffor o or crimes lik like ke stealing a pi pizza—face izza—face lif life fe b behind ehind bars with lit little tttle ch chance hance of par parole. ole. Prop. Pr op. 36 would w rreduce educe prison
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9 OCTOBER O C TO B E R 10-16, 10-16, 2012 | me metrosiliconvalley.com etrosiliconvalley.com | sanjose sanjose.com .com | metr metroactive.com oactive.com
and lab labor or ccontributions ontributionss to p political olitical ccandidates. andidates. But Pr Prop. op. 32 2 is primarily backed back ked e b byy the Americ American an nF Future uture F Fund und ((AFF), AFF), a R Republican epublic e an gr group o rregistered oup egistered as a 501c(4), meaning th that hat it ccan an rreceive eceive unlimited ccontributions ontriibutions and doesn’t have donors.. do esn’t ha ave to disclose its donors Prop. does nothing And Pr op. 32 do es noth hing to rregulate egulate Super PACs independent Sup er P ACs or other ind dependent likee AFF AFF, eexpenditure xpenditure ccommittees ommitttteees lik F, political moneymakers so the p olitical mone ym mak keers that aree ccompletely most need rreform effo orm ar o ompletely overlooked. ((intentionally?) y )o veerlook okeed. There’s Ther e’s no question that t the ties between politicians specialb ettw ween p oliticians and d sp ecialinterest moneyy fr from across inter est mone om ac cross the political spectrum bee p olitical sp ectrum need d to b loosened, Prop. lo osened, and Pr op. 32 would stop practicee of ttaking automatic the practic aking au utomatic from employee paychecks, deductions fr om emplo oyeee pa aychecks, proposition but a pr oposition that cripples c without ccampaign ampaign donations wi ithout independent touching indep endent eexpenditure xpenditure loopholes encourage moree lo opholes p will onlyy enc courage g mor nameless,, rreckless spending. nameless eckless sp ending.