On November 6, 2012, California​’s Proposition 34, an ini­tia­tive to replace the death penal­ty with a sen­tence of life with­out parole, was nar­row­ly defeat­ed by a vote of 53% to 47%. Although the result means the death penal­ty will con­tin­ue in the state, the per­cent of vot­ers sup­port­ing repeal rep­re­sents a dra­mat­ic shift away from cap­i­tal pun­ish­ment. The ref­er­en­dum, which indi­cat­ed just more than half of vot­ers are in favor of keep­ing the death penal­ty, fol­lows a broad­er trend of dimin­ish­ing pub­lic sup­port for the pun­ish­ment. By con­trast, the 1978 bal­lot ini­tia­tive that enact­ed California’s death penal­ty statute passed with the sup­port of 71% of the vot­ers. California’s use of the death penal­ty has declined in recent years. Death sen­tences in California dropped from 40 in 1981 to 10 in 2011. California has not car­ried out an exe­cu­tion since 2006. Among the lead­ing pro­po­nents of Proposition 34 were Jeanne Woodford, for­mer war­den of San Quentin Prison, Gil Garcetti, the for­mer District Attorney of Los Angeles County, and Donald Heller, a for­mer pros­e­cu­tor who draft­ed the 1978 death penalty initiative.

(DPIC post­ed, November 7, 2012). See DPIC’s Press Release and Recent Legislation.

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