WHEREAS it has long been established that the death penalty is not a deterrent to capital crimes and therefore does not provide greater safety to the public than does life imprisonment; and

WHEREAS the sentencing of convicted persons to death is a form of cruel and unusual punishment as those who are sentenced to death are those who are for the most part poor and not able to afford quality legal representation; and

WHEREAS the California Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice, a bi-partisan panel of criminal justice experts, concluded that the death penalty has resulted in $125 million in additional annual costs to the state of California as a result of legal and incarceration requirements, an expense that Californians can no longer bear in time of severe budgetary constraints;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the California Democratic Party supports the replacement of the death penalty in the state by life imprisonment.

(This resolution was passed at the September 29, 2009 General Membership meeting.)