Sacramento, Calif., Nov 8, 2012 / 02:26 am
The California Catholic Conference says it regrets the failure of a state ballot measure to repeal the death penalty, but that the effort helped to increase respect for life.
"We're obviously disappointed that the people of California did not choose this opportunity to repeal the use of the death penalty in California," Ned Dolejsi, Executive Director of the California Catholic Conference, told CNA Nov. 7.
"We felt that the time was right to express this protection for the dignity of the human person, no matter how flawed, since we have bloodless means at our disposal to protect ourselves."
Referendum 34 proposed to replace California's death penalty with a sentence of life in prison without parole. If it passed, the sentences of almost 725 convicted death row inmates would have been reduced to life in prison. It also promised to dedicate $100 million in the state budget for police agencies to solve more homicide and rape cases.