Proposition 66 was a
California ballot proposition
In California, a ballot proposition is a referendum or an initiative measure that is submitted to the electorate for a direct decision or direct vote (or plebiscite). If passed, it can alter one or more of the articles of the Constitution of Cal ...
on the November 8, 2016, ballot to change procedures governing California state court challenges to
capital punishment in California
In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is a legal penalty. However it is not allowed to be carried out because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to the moratorium, executions ...
, designate superior court for initial petitions, limit successive petitions, require appointed attorneys who take noncapital appeals to accept death penalty appeals, and exempt prison officials from existing regulation process for developing execution methods.
The intention of Proposition 66 was to speed up the process of capital trials and executions. Proposition 66 was approved by voters in the November general election, with 51.1% voting to speed up executions.
, which would have abolished the death penalty in California, was rejected by voters in the same election, with 53.1% voting against it.
[ If voters had passed both Proposition 62 and Proposition 66, then the measure with the most "Yes" votes would have taken effect.]Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...
'', and '' The Sacramento Bee''.
State supreme court ruling
After Prop 66 passed, former California Attorney General John Van de Kamp
John Kalar Van de Kamp (February 7, 1936 – March 14, 2017) was an American politician and lawyer who served as Los Angeles County District Attorney from 1975 until 1981, and then as the 28th Attorney General of California from 1983 until 1991.
...
, along with Ron Briggs (whose father John Briggs was the sponsor of Prop 7 in 1978, which expanded capital punishment in California
In the U.S. state of California, capital punishment is a legal penalty. However it is not allowed to be carried out because executions were halted by an official moratorium ordered by Governor Gavin Newsom. Prior to the moratorium, executions ...
), challenged the measure in court. On December 20, 2016, the California Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
stopped Prop 66 from going into effect pending resolution of the legal challenge.
The measure constitutionality was upheld 5–2 on August 24, 2017, though the state supreme court held that one provision requiring it to decide direct appeals of capital cases within five years was directive rather than mandatory. The court ordered that Prop 66 take effect after this decision becomes final.
References
External links
No on 66
2016 California ballot propositions
Capital punishment in California
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