Death penalty reduces violence in prisons
By Jesus Figueroa
Passing proposition 34 is designed to put the well-being of convicted, violent criminals above the family of the victims they have forever affected.
The vote to repeal the death penalty in California may push aside the closure for many who lost loved ones to terrible crimes.
Finance is being argued by those who wish to change the death penalty by putting death row inmates into the general population.
Voting yes would say to families of victims that there are cost limitations to the peace of mind they hope to get, many of whom never get to see the justice that capital punishment promises.
Charles Manson is famous for avoiding the death penalty due to The US Supreme Court having done away with it during his trial. California cannot take a step back to a time when capital punishment was abolished.
If Proposition 34 is passed it would return death row inmates, who have been convicted of the most violent crimes, into the general population.
Those who have been convicted of brutal crimes and murders would be taken from death row and housed with inmates who have been incarcerated for lesser crimes.
Reform of prison health care can save money. There are instances where health care for inmates surpasses the health care that is given to an uninsured Californian.
The health care an inmate receives is payed with taxpayer money. In Massachusetts an inmate had a sex change operation paid for with tax payer money.
The cost of medical care for inmates is a variable which cannot be accounted for.
The state cannot begin to speculate on the possible medical expenses that would occur due to the integration of death row inmates to the general population.. Injuries from death row inmates harming general population inmates and vise-versa.
Life without the possibility of parole may be a harsh capital punishment sentence but, it also carries costs that may not be accounted for.
In a New York University political article, a prison guard explained that some prisoners who know they are in prison for life and have nothing left to lose may become more violent.
Prisoners incarcerated with a life sentence without the possibility of parole get put through a much quicker trial process than those that are being considered for the death penalty.
A trial for life without the possibility of parole can take only a few weeks. Death penalty cases last on average 25 years. The trials differ in the sense that death penalty trials are more extensive.
The death penalty holds to stricter guidelines to determine if an inmate is ready to be put to death. The sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole is not taken as strictly due to the harshness of the the sentence not being as extreme as the death penalty.
There are many chances for error in a speedy trial. Lack of a discovery period and rushing through facts lead to mistakes.
It may be of value to reform the system as apposed to abolishing it.
If passed, Proposition 34 would make it necessary to get more prison guards to be able to handle the release of death row inmates into the general population, which is funded by the savings expected by the passing of the propositions.
Voting on Proposition 34 would speak volumes on giving the victims family the justice they deserve.
Keeping California moving forward and not taking it back to a time where the death penalty was abolished allows dangerous criminals to live in the general population with inmates in a prison system that is already over crowded.