Tag: capital punishment
Guest view: State’s death penalty law creates a dilemma
On May 18, Cheryl Busch, who shot and killed her 19-month-old daughter Donna in November 2008, received a sentence of 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to murder. It seemed about right. In any case, the crime did not qualify for the death penalty under California law according to District Attorney Candice Hooper. As I read that senseless law, if Busch had poisoned her daughter or shot her from a motor vehicle instead, she could have been charged with capital murder. I’d bet most people never heard of some of the death penalty provisions – no one can explain them.
Water Cooler: Should California abandon the death penalty?
Julie Morris: “The death penalty is expensive, fallible and unjust. Since 1978 thirteen executions have cost California taxpayers $4 billion, money siphoned from public safety and schools. We pay roughly $100 million annually for each of the 720 inmates on death row and it takes an average of 25 years to get from conviction to execution, delaying justice for victims' families. California can't afford the death penalty: it's much more cost effective to sentence dangerous criminals to life in prison without possibility of parole and start using taxpayer dollars on programs that benefit law abiding Californians.”
