Pointing to a costly system that has resulted in only 13 executions since 1978, the Los Angeles City Council on Friday passed a resolution in favor of Proposition 62, which would repeal the death penalty in California and replace the punishment with life in prison without parole. The death penalty process has cost taxpayers more than $4 billion over nearly 40 years, the resolution states, and the practice "carries the risk that the state could execute an innocent individual," despite the years of required appeals and multiple hearings. Council members also passed a resolution against Proposition 66, which they said would increase the burden on taxpayers and increase the chances of the state killing an innocent person. That Nov. 8 ballot measure seeks to expedite death sentences by limiting the appeals process to five years, exempting prison officials from the current state regulations process and expanding the pool of lawyers.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 05, 2016 00:39 UTC