Voters choose to speed up death penalty cases

Good morning! You may not have noticed it last week, but a measure to speed up executions in California is now projected to pass. 

Proposition 66, which aims to cap death-sentence appeals at five years, stands at 51.1 percent of the vote. While such a slim margin of victory would usually suggest the electorate is divided, a competing measure to end the death penalty altogether was rejected by 53.4 percent of voters (ballots are still being counted, so totals may change).

“California voters not only want to keep the death penalty intact but they want it to work as intended,” said Anne Marie Schubert, Sacramento County district attorney, who called Prop. 66’s lead “insurmountable.”

Prop. 66 speeds up the appeals process by expanding the number of courts and attorneys able to hear and try death penalty appeals to meet a five-year cap on the appeals process that currently takes decades. A court order could be sought when cases drag on. 

CalWatchdog has more.

In other news:

• “2011 pension fixes in L.A., S.F. not working,” writes CalWatchdog. 

• “7 myths about homelessness in Los Angeles,” by LA Weekly. 

• “Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from Oakland who met with Fidel Castro on numerous occasions, says she will continue to push for normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S. in the aftermath of Castro’s death,” reports Politico.

• “Donald Trump alleges widespread voter fraud in California. There’s no evidence to back it up,” reports the Los Angeles Times. 

Legislature:

• Gone till December, but the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee will hold a hearing on Wells Fargo’s sales and management practices at 9:30 a.m.

Gov. Brown:

• Hosting the 85th Annual Capitol Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony today at 4:30 p.m. on the west steps of the Capitol.

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