Death Penalty Isn't Going Away in California

Apparently, the battle over the death penalty in California isn't going away, despite the failure of the recent voter initiative to ban it.

At LAT, "In California, death penalty abolitionists pledge to keep fighting":

As executions have declined and public opinion of the death penalty has hit a record low nationwide, many looked to California as a test of whether the public — not courts or governments — was ready to overturn the practice.

But California voters on Tuesday defeated a measure to repeal capital punishment and, as of Thursday, were on course to narrowly approve a dueling proposition that aims to amend and expedite it.

Death penalty supporters lauded the outcome, saying it reflected what they have been pointing to all along: Most Americans want the system fixed, not ended. But abolitionists argued that campaigns in favor of capital punishment benefited from the so-called “Trump effect,” a wave of mostly white, male voters from rural areas energized by the Republican presidential campaign of Donald Trump.

Proposition 62, which would have replaced capital punishment for murder with life in prison without parole, was defeated, with nearly 54% of voters in opposition.

Awaiting approval is Proposition 66, which intends to speed up executions by designating trial courts to hear petitions challenging death row convictions, limiting successive petitions and expanding the pool of lawyers who could take on death penalty appeals.

It has won the approval of 50.9% of voters. California elections officials have been sifting through ballots cast by mail, which account for more than half of the state's voter registration, and may not have a full handle on how many are left to count until Monday...

Actually, Prop 66 passed. See the San Jose Mercury News, "California’s death penalty: What to know after Proposition 66."

Look, Hillary won 60 percent of the vote in California. It wasn't just the "Trump effect." People still support capital punishment in this country, despite the vile coddling of murderers by radical leftists.