Abolish the Death Penalty in California

The United States is becoming increasingly isolated from the international community were most of the sophisticated countries have already abolished the death penalty. It is a system based on revenge, and suggests that the act of premeditated killing is acceptable in our society.

The death penalty costs tax payers in California over $114 million a year, and the cost of housing an inmate on death row is $90,000 more each year then inmates staying in general prison. With 84% of the top academic criminologists concluding that existing research tells us that the death penalty is not an effective deterrent to crime, the most vital function of the death penalty has proven a failure.

Finally, the taking of a human life is the most extreme of all human rights violations and should not exist in California.