Murder: Special Circumstances. Legislative Initiative Amendment.
	Argument in Favor of Proposition 18

Arguments on this page are the opinions of the authors and have not been checked for accuracy by any official agency.

Proposition 18 corrects two odd decisions by the Rose Bird Supreme Court. In 1980, and again in 1985, that court turned our voter-enacted death penalty law on its head. In the first case, the court ruled that an estranged husband who arranged the kidnapping of his wife in order to kill her was not subject to the death penalty or even life imprisonment without parole because the kidnapping was committed solely to murder her rather than to commit a less serious crime! In the second case, the court mandated that a criminal who kidnapped and killed a witness to prevent him from testifying was not subject to the death penalty or life without parole.

Under these hapless decisions:

• A murderer who deliberately kidnaps his victim to kill him and then takes the victim to a remote location and kills him would not be subject to the death penalty or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (even though it would be applicable if the kidnapping was committed for some lesser purpose).
• A murderer who sets fire to a building with a premeditated plan to kill someone inside would not be subject to the death penalty or a sentence of life imprisonment without parole (even though it would be applicable if committed only for arson to destroy property that results in an unintended death).

Proposition 18 provides voters the chance to correct such unjust, illogical remnants of the Rose Bird court and restore logic, fairness, and justice to our death penalty laws. It grants juries the option of rendering verdicts of death or life imprisonment without parole to those who:

• Kidnap for an express premeditated purpose to murder;
• Lie in wait for their victims, then seize and take them to a more secluded spot to murder them;
• Commit arson for the purpose of killing a person inside the building.

It defies reason to exclude such aggravated murders from our death penalty or life imprisonment law. Proposition 18 eliminates unequal treatment from court-imposed law. It restores equal justice for murder victims' families, for law enforcement officers who each day confront criminals and even murderers and for all Californians. Voting "yes" on Proposition 18 ensures a rational standard for capital punishment and life imprisonment and protects the honesty and integrity of the law in our state.

HON. GEORGE DEUKMEJIAN
Former Governor of California

HON. MICHAEL D. BRADBURY
District Attorney of Ventura County

MRS. QUENTIN L. (MARA) KOPP
Retired Social Worker

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