Paage of Prop 66 Puts Gov. Brown in a Tough Spot
01/12/2016
Although he has served as governor longer than anyone else in California history, Jerry Brown has never been forced to make one of the weightiest decisions governors face: whether to spare a convicted criminal from execution.
California has executed more than 500 people, but the death penalty has been on hold pending legal challenges during both of Brown's two-term stints as governor. It's been a politically convenient coincidence for the Democrat who rose to prominence as an outspoken opponent of capital punishment, even as California voters repeatedly demonstrated support for it.
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSend EmailMoreCommentPin on PinterestShare on LinkedInShare on Google+
--
--
Their most recent affirmation came this November. Voters rejected Proposition 62, which would have abolished capital punishment, and passed Prop. 66, which seeks to expedite death penalty appeals. The outcome means California may resume executions during Brown's final two years as governor, potentially challenging the legacy of the former Jesuit seminarian who was once so morally opposed to capital punishment that he protested outside the gates of death row.
It's not certain that executions will resume; death penalty opponents have filed a lawsuit trying to block Prop. 66 and a separate challenge of a law that gives corrections officials broad authority to establish execution procedures. A federal court would need to lift a decade-old stay on lethal injections in California.
But supporters insist they will prevail in court, and that executions will begin next year.
They were suspended in California in 2006 when a federal court ruled that the state's three-drug lethal injection process amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. Since then, corrections officials have been drafting a new execution procedure using only one drug, while also responding to a tangle of lawsuits challenging the way they were planning to reinstate the death penalty. The single-drug plan introduced last year, like many proposed state regulations, doesn't go into effect until after a public review period. But one piece of Prop. 66 removes that review period-allowing prison officials to more swiftly move ahead with single-drug lethal injections.
The (corrections department) should be able to begin use of the protocol that it's already established, which means that execution dates can be set, said Kent Scheidegger, a Sacramento attorney who helped write Prop. 66, and whom The Atlantic once called Mr. Death Penalty for his advocacy on the issue. I'm sure it will be an intensely fought battle. But we'll certainly make the argument that there's been far too much delay and courts shouldn't delay any further.
If courts allow Prop. 66 to proceed-more action on the suit is expected after election results are certified in mid-December-execution dates would be established after district attorneys seek death warrants from the trial courts. Eighteen of the 748 death row inmates have exhausted all their appeals, making them likely to be executed soonest. They include Harvey Heishman, who raped an Oakland woman and then murdered her in 1979 before she could testify against him; Richard Samayoa, who broke into a San Diego home in 1985 and beat a young mother and her toddler to death with a wrench; and Tiequon Cox, who murdered four Los Angeles family members of Kermit Alexander, the former pro football player who put Prop. 66 on the ballot.
California Death Row Inmates Who Have Exhausted Appeals (Click on a location pin below to see the death row inmate who has exhausted his appeal and the crime he committed. Some crime locations are approximations.) Map by Matt Levin.
Data from deathrowinmates.silk.co
Despite his activism against the death penalty as a young man, Brown never weighed in publicly on the November initiatives.
I think he just felt he would be compelled to do whatever the voters decide and therefore did not enter into the fray, said Cruz Reynoso, a former California Supreme Court justice and death penalty opponent.
Reynoso-one of three Brown appointees tossed off the Supreme Court in a 1986 campaign that targeted them for overturning death sentences-said if executions are scheduled before 2018, he wouldn't expect Brown to block them. Jerry Brown, like yours truly, may have a moral position, he said, but as a public official will enforce the law.
The governor's staff declined to answer questions about potential executions. But Brown biographer Chuck McFadden said if executions did resume in his final term, He wouldn't like it, not one bit.
It's an open question whether he would say anything publicly decrying the execution But he would certainly be unhappy about it, even though he's a far different person today than he was in 1960.
In that year Brown famously lobbied his father, then-Gov. Pat Brown, to stay the execution of a convicted rapist. Seven years later, the younger Brown stood vigil outside of San Quentin as a cop-killer was put to death inside the prison.
Lethal Injection Chamber at San Quentin | photo California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
Governors have broad authority under state law to block executions. The elder Brown spared 23 death row inmates by commuting their sentences but allowed 36 to be executed. In his biography Public Justice, Private Mercy: A Governors Education on Death Row, Pat Brown described the difficulty of being the last stop on the road to the gas chamber.
It was an awesome, ultimate power over the lives of others that no person or government should have, or crave,
LINK: | https://www.kcet.org/ballot-brief/will-jerry-brown-have-to-preside-ove... |
See more stories from kcet |
Most recent headlines
04/08/2024
Dalet Appoints Santiago Solanas as CEO to Lead Next Era of Growth and Innovation
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, is excited to announce Santiago Solanas as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....
03/06/2024
Dalet and Veritone Reach Agreement to Distribute, Transact and Monetize Media Archives
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, a...
28/04/2024
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with URSA Broadcast G2
Mediahaus delivers the first SRT live-streaming sports production over 5G with U...
20/04/2024
PBS Kids Adds American Sign Language to Streaming Content
As part of a push to improve the accessibility of its content, PBS Kids has announced that it has integrated American Sign Language (ASL) interpretations into m...
20/04/2024
Survey: Concerns About Deep Fakes Spike As Election Approaches
SAN JOSE, Calif. Online security solution provider McAfee has released new research exploring the impact artificial intelligence (AI) and the rise of deepfakes ...
20/04/2024
FCC Sets April 25 Vote on Net Neutrality Rules
The Federal Communications Commission has announced the agenda for an Open Meeting on Thursday, April 25, 2024 that will include votes on Net Neutrality Rules a...
20/04/2024
Virtual Reality Becomes the New Production Reality
Virtual reality and its close relatives, such as extended reality, have been completely accepted into the workflow of high-end productions. Stepping into an LED...
20/04/2024
Video Games Round Out the Entertainment Package
Video Games Round Out the Entertainment Package Andy Marken April 19, 2024 0 Comments By this, I take it you think everybody is who they say they are...
20/04/2024
With Bears on the Clock, NBCU Local Chicago Plans Extensive NFL Draft Coverage
With the Bears picking first, NBCUniversal Local's properties in Chicago plan extensive coverage of the NFL draft next week....
20/04/2024
Fox Sports Hires Veteran Ad Sales Executives
Fox Sports said it hired two veteran advertising sales executives, with Jen Durda and Kathy Lydon both named VP....
20/04/2024
Daytime Emmys Announce Some Nominations Early
Daytime fans got a sneak peek at nominations for the 51st annual Daytime Emmys, with the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) announcing the...
20/04/2024
DAZN Weighs in With Content Ahead of Haney-Garcia Fight
DAZN is launching its Run It Up, its first multi-sports original vodcast, or video podcast, and a set of micro-podcasts ahead of the Devin Haney-Ryan Garcia fig...
20/04/2024
Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav Got 27% Raise to $49.7 Million in 2023
David Zaslav, CEO of troubled Warner Bros. Discovery, got a 27% increase in total compensation for 2023....
20/04/2024
April 19, 2024
New copper-catalyzed C-H activation strategy from Scripps Research Two-mode reactions inspired by human detox enzymes offer powerful new tools for drug discover...
19/04/2024
Thank You for visiting us at NAB 2024!
Thank You for visiting us at NAB 2024! Thank you for joining us at the ToolsOnAir booth during NAB Show 2024! We were delighted to showcase our latest inno...
19/04/2024
Stress Positions Mines Health Anxieties for Comedy
PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 18: (L-R) John Early and Theda Hammel attend the 2024 Sundance Film Festival Stress Positions premiere at Library Center Theatre on ...
19/04/2024
Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, the Filmmakers Behind Sugarcane
By Lucy Spicer One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival...
19/04/2024
Mexico City Watchlist: 7 Documentaries About Working in CDMX
Pictured: Midnight Family By Stephanie Ornelas A great way to get to know a city as culturally unique and rich as Mexico City is to listen to the stories tol...
19/04/2024
SNS Dominates NAB Show 2024 With Triple Win For MOD
St. Louis, MO - April 18, 2024 - Studio Network Solutions (SNS) announced today that MOD won three prestigious industry awards at NAB Show 2024 held this week i...
19/04/2024
How Spotify Approaches Safety With Sarah Hoyle, Global Head of Trust and Safety
Spotify's mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving a million artists the opportunity to live off their art and billions of fans the ...
19/04/2024
Spotify and Taylor Swift Create a One-of-a-Kind Library To Celebrate THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT'
It's a beautiful day to be a Swiftie. Today, Taylor Swift dropped her 11th s...
19/04/2024
L3Harris Announces Quarterly Dividend
MELBOURNE, Fla., April 19, 2024 - The Board of Directors of L3Harris Technologies (NYSE:LHX) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $1.16 per common share, payab...
19/04/2024
Intel Lays Out 8K Production, AI Tech Plans for Paris Olympics
PARIS Intel has announced that its plans for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will include using artificial intelligence technology powered by Intel ...
19/04/2024
Tech Advances Boost Adoption of 8K Production
LAS VEGAS Technologists working on all aspects of the 8K media production chain offered an optimistic update at the 2024 NAB Show on the state of 8K in video pr...
19/04/2024
OpenDrives New Software-Defined Platform Atlas Wins 2024 NAB Show Product of the Year Award
OpenDrives New Software-Defined Platform Atlas Wins 2024 NAB Show Product of the...
19/04/2024
Grass Valley Showcases Next-Generation T3 Series 4K/HD Digital Recording and Playback for Venues and Stadiums
Grass Valley Showcases Next-Generation T3 Series 4K/HD Digital Recording and Pla...
19/04/2024
NiTRo's M-CUBE Studio Levels Up Esports Productions with AJA Gear
NiTRo's M-CUBE Studio Levels Up Esports Productions with AJA Gear Brie Clayton April 19, 2024 0 Comments Esports' rapid rise to popularity can...
19/04/2024
Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 19
Blackmagic Design Announces DaVinci Resolve 19 Brie Clayton April 19, 2024 0 Comments Major update adds new DaVinci Neural Engine AI tools, new color ...
19/04/2024
Sony Considering Bid to Acquire Paramount
Sony Pictures Entertainment is reportedly in talks with Apollo Global Management to make a bid to acquire Paramount which itself is currently discussing a merge...
19/04/2024
How 1185 Films created the VFX on new horror, All You Need Is Death
Simon Wilkinson, head of VFX at 1185 films, talks about the technology behind the newly-released horror By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 19, 2024 Simo...
19/04/2024
Could Sony be preparing a bid for Channel 5's parent company?
The global electronics company is said to be considering joining forces with investment firm Apollo Management to bid for Paramount Global By Jenny Priestley ...
19/04/2024
EBU report highlights contribution of free-to-air sport broadcasting
The report broke the economic footprint of EBU member sports broadcasting into three main areas By Matthew Corrigan Published: April 19, 2024 The report b...
19/04/2024
CBS Stations Launches CBS News California Investigates' Segments
CBS Stations has launched CBS News California Investigates , with Julie Watts named regional CBS California correspondent. She will uncover and raise awarenes...
19/04/2024
MediaCo Acquires Estrella Media's Spanish-Language Network, Content Assets
MediaCo Holding, which owns radio stations WQHT (Hot 97) and WBLS in New York, said it acquired Estrella Media's Spanish-language video, audio and digital c...
19/04/2024
Season 5 of The Witcher' Will Be Final One
Netflix has ordered season five of fantasy drama The Witcher, which will be the final season. Production has recently begun on season four, and the two remainin...
19/04/2024
DirecTV Stream To Carry Eight More The CW Affiliates
DirecTV Stream said it added eight more The CW affiliates to its lineup on Thursday....
19/04/2024
CBS Orders More Elsbeth'
CBS has renewed Elsbeth for the 2024-2025 season. The drama, with Carrie Preston in the lead role, debuted February 29....
19/04/2024
With Bears on the Clock. NBCU Local Chicago Plans Extensive NFL Draft Coverage
With the Bears picking first, NBCUniversal Local's properties in Chicago plan extensive coverage of the NFL draft next week....
19/04/2024
Comcast Launches NOW
PHILADELPHIA As government subsidies for broadband services come to an end, Comcast has launched NOW, a new product portfolio of lower-cost Internet, mobile and...
19/04/2024
DirecTV Stream Adds CW Affiliates
DirecTV Stream has added more local CW stations for its streaming customers in Boston, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Hartford-New Haven Conn., Phoenix, San ...
19/04/2024
MediaCo Acquires Estrella Media's Content and Digital Operations
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES MediaCo Holding Inc. has announced that it has acquired all of Estrella Media's network, content, digital, and commercial operations....
19/04/2024
Adobe Launches New Adobe Express Mobile App with Firefly AI
SAN JOSE, Calif. Adobe has announced that the all-new Adobe Express mobile app is available to all users, bringing features powered by Adobe Firefly generative ...
19/04/2024
Netflix Adds 9.3M Subs in Q1
LOS GATOS, Calif. Netflix reported another blockbuster quarter by adding 9.33 million new subscribers in Q1, 2024 as global paid memberships hit 269.6 million, ...
19/04/2024
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI
The Current State of the Industry and the Future Impact of AI Hillary Lewis April 18, 2024 0 Comments The Entertainment Industry: How did we get here ...
19/04/2024
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal
After Effects Tutorial Text Blur Reveal Andy Ford April 18, 2024 0 Comments Here's a way to do a quick blur reveal for your text layer. Start by...
19/04/2024
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver
Hollyland Mars M1 Enhanced Wireless Transmitter / Receiver Colin Smith April 18, 2024 0 Comments This tutorial shows the new wireless transmitter rece...
19/04/2024
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua
Resolve Fusion: Writing Expressions with Lua Simon Ubsdell April 18, 2024 0 Comments The answer to the very frequently-asked question: what is the pro...
19/04/2024
B+C,' Next TV' Announce Winners of Best of Show Awards at NAB Show
B+C and Next TV have announced the winners of Best of Show Awards for the 2024 NAB Show. The awards were judged by a panel of industry experts at the convention...
19/04/2024
Cate Blanchett Narrates Nature Series on Netflix
Cate Blanchett narrates the Netflix series Our Living World, which premieres April 17. The four-part series looks at the extraordinary creatures around the glob...
19/04/2024
For All Mankind' Spinoff Is in the Works at Apple TV Plus
Apple TV Plus has a spinoff of For All Mankind in the works. It is called Star City and details the cosmonauts, engineers and intelligence officers working behi...