[Davis Democrats] URGENT:voluntary act opp: Prop 34-SAFE California Act-Pulitzer Prize investigative reporter

[John Chendo]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: John Chendo <jac07 at dcn.org>
> Date: July 21, 2012 3:22:49 PM PDT
> 
> Subject: URGENT:voluntary act opp: Prop 34-SAFE California Act-Pulitzer Prize investigative reporter
> 
> This November 2012 ballot initiative,Prop 34, would abolish the death penalty in the state of California and replace it with a sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole.  The Democratic Party has taken no position on Prop 34. 
> 
> Endorsers include: California Catholic Conference of Bishops and retired bishop of Sacramento Francis A. Quinn; California Council of Churches' Impact; Friends Committee on Legislation of California; American Civil Liberties Union; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People; Southern Poverty Law Center; Mr. Herman Gallegos, a founder of the National Council of La Raza; The Hon. Cruz Reynoso; Ms. Carmona Sandoval, whose son was a murder victim;  Gil Garcetti, former DA of Los Angeles County; Kamala Harris, California Attorney General (Democrat); Don Heller, Esq., the lawyer who wrote the 1978 Briggs Initiative, which voters passed 34 years ago to become the current California Death Penalty law ; Jeanne Woodford, retired San Quentin warden who carried out 4 executions; Mike Farrell, a founder of Death Penalty Focus, the actor who played Hunnicutt,MD, on the nine-year TV series M*A*S*H*.
> 
> 3 major aspects of Prop 34 are: 1) Instead of  the process of death penalty trials, waiting on death row appeals, and irrecoverable taking of life--substitute prison for life without possibility of parole. 2) Require these inmates to work and to put their earnings into a restorative justice fund to go to the victims to provide  restitution. 3)Use the money saved by the state  government to go toward local law enforcement agencies to solve the crimes that are so difficult to solve. 
> 
> Death penalty trials cost an average of twenty times as much as analogous trials without the penalty of death; average length of appeals is twenty years; more than 100 death row convicts in the USA have been proven innocent by DNA testing, of which some of those were executed; almost  half of death row prisoners are black; almost all were indigent before trial. 
> 
> A Dinner and Awards ceremony  featuring the leading thinkers and speakers on the subject of the death penalty is a truly  great opportunity for our county:
> 
> a) Don Heller, the lawyer who wrote the 1978 Briggs initiative,
> b)Jeanne Woodford , retired San Quentin warden , now director of Death Penalty Focus
> c)Maurice Possley, Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter, covering criminal justice issues for 36 years, particularly the operation of the death penalty in Illinois
> d)Ellen Eggers, California State Public Defender 
> e)Franky Carrillo, who lived 19 years on Death Row for a murder he did not commit.
> 
> 
> 
> This huge criminal justice ceremony is a benefit of the People's Vanguard of Davis, a journalism team headed by investigative reporter David Greenwald, with a crew of dedicated college student interns, who publish an online website to serve Yolo County. Visit the secure website, www.davisvanguard.org. 
> 
> You may purchase tickets and/or sponsor the event over the secure website directly or by phone, 530-400-2511.  Basic ticket per individual, including dinner by Ciocolat of Davis, is $35.
> 
> Date: This Thursday evening , July 26, beginning at 5:30pm with silent auction and no host bar, with dinner being served at 6:30pm.
> Place: Heidrick AG History Center, 1962 Hays Lane, Woodland,CA.  
> 
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> 
> P.S. Make sure to re- register to vote in November  if your address has changed.  Also young people who will be 18 years old by election day may register now, and must register by October 22. 
> 
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