Ron Briggs Republican who fought for the death penalty - Now wants to abolish

In 1978, California reinstated the death penalty. Today, these same activists who have been pushing for some of the strictest laws in the country, they want to stop it, calling the biggest mistake of his life.

Campaign to achieve "Proposition 7 " lead with his father Ron Briggs, now a farmer and a Republican in the Council of the District of El Dorado. The draft legislation prepared by Donald J. Heller, a former prosecutor from New York, now living in Sacramento.

However, after 34 years, the two men do respond to 180 degrees. Today is the biggest advocates, of the initiative requesting the annulment of the death penalty, and replace it with a life sentence without possibility of parole.

Quick justice is not working. Ron Briggs argues: - When we introduced "Proposition 7", on death row waiting for 300 prisoners. Currently there are 720, which has already cost us $ 4 billion. I say to my fellow Republicans: "If a state program costing 185 million dollars (California seems so much a year for the purpose of death) and to take money only to lawyers and criminals, what would you do with it?".

The Heller as formulated rules that always defended the Supreme Court. Today it is not happy and called it "a colossal failure."

The proof of this, the California doubts the effectiveness of the death penalty is a government report released recently, the authors estimated that the life imprisonment of offenders would cost less than making them a death sentence. However, although the death penalty in California costs a fortune, and though for 34 years made "only" 13 killings, is if America surrenders to justice for dollars?

Polls indicate that if the inhabitants of California are on this issue relentlessly. 48 percent surveyed in the Field Poll survey would consider life imprisonment for first degree murder. However, while 68 percent still maintain the death penalty for serious crimes.