Summary
California Supreme Court case challenging the validity of the major reform of the state's system for reviewing death penalty cases approved by the voters in the November 2016 election. In that election, California voters rejected a proposition to repeal the death penalty and simultaneously approved a reform measure. Two advocates on the losing side of the vote, John Van de Kamp and Ron Briggs, promptly filed a lawsuit to overturn the voters' decision. They claim the measure is invalid as embracing more than one subject, even though it is entirely about capital cases. They also attack the reforms that put limits on the number of times a judgment can be challenged, tightening the limit on how long a murderer has to file a challenge, and setting a five-year standard for the California courts to complete their review. CJLF argued the case in the California Supreme Court on behalf of the Yes on 66 campaign committee, which has intervened to defend the initiative. The court rejected every one of the challengers” many arguments and upheld the initiative.
