Proposition 17 of 1972 was a measure enacted by

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

voters to reintroduce the

death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...

in that state. 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 ...

had ruled on February 17, 1972, that capital punishment was contrary to the state constitution. Proposition 17 amended the Constitution of California in order to overturn that decision. It was submitted to a

referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate (rather than their Representative democracy, representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either bin ...

by means of the

initiative Popular initiative A popular initiative (also citizens' initiative) is a form of direct democracy by which a petition meeting certain hurdles can force a legal procedure on a proposition. In direct initiative, the proposition is put direct ...

process, and approved by voters on November 7 with 67.5% of the vote.

Background

''People v. Anderson''

The court ruled in '' People v. Anderson'' that capital punishment was contrary to Article 1, Section 6 of the state constitution,This provision has since moved to Article 1, Section 17. which forbade "cruel or unusual punishment", and was held to be more strict than the similarly worded provision of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution that says "cruel and unusual punishment". Proposition 17 amended the state constitution by adding Article 1, Section 27, which reads:

''People v. Frierson''

In 1979, it was argued before the California Supreme Court (in ''People v. Frierson'') that Proposition 17 was unconstitutional, as it amounted to a "revision" rather than an "amendment" of the state constitution, and a revision may not be enacted by an initiative. The court rejected this argument. Justice Stanley Mosk filed a

concurring opinion In law, a concurring opinion is in certain legal systems a written opinion by one or more judges of a court which agrees with the decision made by the Majority opinion, majority of the court, but states different (or additional) reasons as the bas ...

in which he reluctantly agreed with the judgment of the court, but also expressed his dismay at the response of the electorate to ''Anderson'':

Aftermath

Despite Proposition 17, no executions were carried out in California until 1992. This was due to the U.S. Supreme Court decision in the same year in '' Furman v. Georgia'' (which temporarily halted capital punishment in the United States) and to extensive litigation that occurred thereafter.

References

1972 California ballot propositions

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Initiatives in the United States Capital punishment in California Criminal penalty ballot measures in the United States Capital punishment referendums Capital punishment ballot measures in the United States {{California-poli-stub

Background

''People v. Anderson''

''People v. Frierson''

Aftermath

See also

References