Proposition 7 increased the penalties for first degree murder and second degree murder, expanded the list of special circumstances requiring a death sentence or life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, and revised existing law relating to mitigating or aggravating circumstances.
Conservative politician John V. Briggs recruited attorney Donald J. Heller to draft the proposal.
The official ballot title and summary of the ballot measure prepared by the California Attorney General read: Since its creation until the end of 2011, the law had resulted in 13 executions and cost taxpayers $4 billion, according to a study co-authored by Loyola Law School professor Paula Mitchell.
[1] Mitchell and U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Arthur Alarcón estimated California was spending $184 million a year on lawyers, expert witnesses and secure prisons associated with the death row population created by Proposition 7.
Ron Briggs, son of John Briggs, joined Heller and others in seeking to repeal Proposition 7, including Jeanne Woodford, a former warden at San Quentin State Prison, and former Los Angeles district attorney Gil Garcetti.