This week, bill SB 490 passed the Assembly Public Safety Committee. This bill would be the first step in changing the death penalty as we understand it in California, replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
According to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), sentencing convicted criminals to life without the possibility of parole would save California $184 million each year.
The bill is now one step closer to the California Assembly and Senate floor.
Scott Hughes is a criminal defense lawyer in Orange County, California practicing in State and Federal Court.