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LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF CALIFORNIA EDUCATION FUND PROPOSITION 18 MURDER: SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES. Legislative Initiative Amendment THE QUESTION Should California expand the law prescribing execution or permanent imprisonment to include certain murders involving ambush, murders by arson, and kidnap-murders? THE SITUATION In 1977, the California Legislature rewrote the state death penalty law to conform more narrowly to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Furman v. Georgia. In 1978, voters also approved a broader death penalty initiative (Briggs), which is now the California law. For first-degree murder, the law now provides for a term of 25-years-to-life in prison, with eventual parole eligibility. First-degree murder can also result in a sentence of death or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole if additional specified felonies or "special circumstances" apply. THE PROPOSAL Proposition 18 would change the law for murder involving two felonies: arson and kidnapping. Present law prescribes execution or life imprisonment for murder committed while any of a dozen specified felonies is attempted, assisted, or accomplished, or during flight afterward. Proposition 18 would add that: the special circumstances requirement is met when the intent to kill and the "elements" of kidnapping or arson are established. | |
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