Murder: Special Circumstances. Legislative Initiative Amendment.
	Rebuttal to 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.

What good does it do us to pass Proposition 18, extend capital punishment? We owe it to ourselves to put aside prejudices, assess facts.

Nobody's been able to demonstrate statistically that capital punishment deters murders or saves lives. States and nations without capital punishment have lower murder rates.

Instead, research demonstrates it costs $2 million more per case to prosecute a murderer through to the death penalty than if the defendant serves for life without possibility of parole.

Why don't we get smart, save that money, invest in efforts which could reduce the murder rate, especially against persons in law enforcement?

We appreciate our fellow humans who choose careers wherein they put their lives on the line to assure our public safety. And we'd provide them more safety if we devoted the money capital punishment costs to research to prevent future murderers.

Capital punishment gives us no way to learn about the root causes of murderous conduct. As we grow to recognize that violence is learned behavior, it's evident we can learn more about their lives, ferret out the root causes of their murders, if these folks are alive. Hopefully, in due time, through sufficient study, we'll learn enough so future children won't grow up so disturbed within themselves, so dangerous to the rest of us!

Let's save money, devote it to preventing violence, especially murder. Be smart, join us in voting NO, defeat Proposition 18.

Azim Khamisa
Founder, Tariq Khamisa Foundation

Wilson Riles, Jr.
Executive Director, American Friends Service Committee of Northern California

Senator John Vasconcellos
Chair, Senate Public Safety Committee

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