PETITION CLOSED

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Californians Can't Afford to Waste Money on a New Death Row
  1. Signatures
    809 out of 1,000
    Petitioning
    1. The Governor of CA
  2. Created By
    Chris Cassidy
    Washington, DC
About this Petition Petition Letter

The Republican governor of California, some yahoo by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger, has spent his entire governorship besieged by the state's budget crisis. Apparently bent on being remembered as the governator who terminated any chance of California ever returning to fiscal stability, Schwarzenegger just announced his intent to pour $65 million into a new pet project.

What could possibly justify adding to California's $19 billion (with a "B") budget deficit? Could he be worried about a declining, once-premier state university system? Might the governor be interested in restoring state employees to full-time status? Is it possible he's investing in California's deteriorating infrastructure?

No. Schwarzenegger is building a new death row.

Isn't capital punishment expensive enough? California already spends over $100 million annually on capital punishment. Even if you set aside the facts that death doesn't deter criminals and is distributed in a racially discriminatory way, investing more in California's death penalty is utterly ridiculous. Considering that the state has only executed 13 people since 1976, even the most staunchly pro-death advocates have to be scratching their heads about Schwarzenegger's latest move.

 

Recent Signatures

No New Death Row

Greetings,

Capital punishment is wasteful enough, but building a new death row is ridiculous.

Considering California's ongoing budget crisis, the state should only be spending money on policies that improve the lives of Californians. It is widely documented that capital punishment does not deter crime and is distributed in a racially biased way. Additionally, DNA exonerations demonstrate that one price of the death penalty is that states make mistakes, taking innocent lives.

If that's not expensive enough, it currently costs California over $100 annually to preserve its death penalty. On top of that, building a new death row is outrageous.

Borrowing $65 just for the first year of construction cannot be permitted. With an expected cost approaching $400 million for the whole project, how anyone could support this misguided use of Californians' scarce tax dollars escapes me.

Please reconsider and reverse your plan to waste California's money on such an ineffective approach to criminal justice as the death penalty. It is unjust, morally wrong and fiscally irresponsible.

Sincerely,

[Your name]

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