"This article written by Paul Graham in 2016 calls on voters in California to vote to abolish the death penalty. It points out that the death penalty means killing innocent people, as in the real world about one in every 25 people is innocent. The article also states that votes should be cast against Proposition 66, which facilitates the death penalty, and invites the reader to seize the opportunity to make a difference on this issue.

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# This Year We Can End the Death Penalty in California (The Opportunity to Abolish the Death Penalty in California This Year)

November 2016

If you're a California voter, there is an important proposition on your ballot this year: Proposition 62, which bans the death penalty.

When I was younger I used to think the debate about the death penalty was about when it's ok to take a human life. Is it ok to kill a killer?

But that is not the issue here.

The real world does not work like the version I was shown on TV growing up. The police often arrest the wrong person. Defendants' lawyers are often incompetent. And prosecutors are often motivated more by publicity than justice.

In the real world, about 4% of people sentenced to death are innocent. So this is not about whether it's ok to kill killers. This is about whether it's ok to kill innocent people.

A child could answer that one for you.

This year, in California, you have a chance to end this, by voting yes on Proposition 62. But beware, because there is another proposition, Proposition 66, whose goal is to make it easier to execute people. So yes on 62, no on 66.

It's time.

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Relevant Keywords: California Proposition 62, death penalty debate, innocent people on death row, California Proposition 66, voting on death penalty, end of death penalty in California, wrongful convictions and death penalty, issues with legal system, California ballot propositions"