On November 8, every Californian who steps into a voting booth will face a momentous decision --- life or death?

It is an awesome responsibility that cannot be avoided. To fail to cast a vote on one of the two competing death penalty ballot measures is to passively accept a California death penalty system that U.S. District Court Judge Cormac Carney aptly described as so "dysfunctional" and "irrational" in its application that it "serves no penological purpose" whatsoever.

Of the more than 900 human beings who have received death sentences in the Golden State since 1978, only thirteen (13) have been executed. During that time, California's death penalty system has operated at a cost of $5 billion or $384 million per execution. At present 748 men and women remain on death row, waiting to die.

The first of the two ballot measures, Prop 62, is backed by a wide array of political, educational, religious and civil liberties organizations. It is also supported by well-known politicians like California's Democratic Lt. Gov. Gavin Newson and former President Jimmy Carter. The measure is simple, direct and straightforward. A "yes" vote "repeals the death penalty and replaces it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole." Prop 62 would apply "retroactively to existing death sentences," and it would increase "the portion of a life inmate's wages that may be applied to victim restitution."

The second competing measure, Prop 66, the "Death Penalty Procedure Regulation" initiative, has been offered primarily by the same District Attorneys and law enforcement personnel who are currently responsible for the enforcement of the existing dysfunctional death penalty system. The object of Prop 66, they tell us, is to "mend not end" the death penalty system by severely curtailing the rights of the condemned both with respect the timing of direct appeals and subsequent collateral challenges by way of what are known as petitions for habeas corpus.

Where the death penalty repeal measure (Prop 62) can be readily understood by the average voter, the procedural changes reflected by Prop 66's wonky text are such that only those attorneys and judges who are actively engaged in death penalty appellate litigation can be expected to fully comprehend their true significance.

Prosecutors glibly assure voters that Prop 66 is a safe means to speed up the appeal process. Former DC public defender Stephen Cooper, on the other hand, describes Prop 66 as a "dubious," "arbitrary" and "macabre" proposal to turbo-charge "California's 'machinery of death'" --- a measure whose "cataclysmically-bad provisions" increase the ability of overzealous prosecutors to literally bury their mistakes...

On today's BradCast, guest hosted by Angie Coiro, we consider whether --- all protests to the contrary --- Brock Turner's sentence for sexual assault was in fact fair and just. Then we'll take a look at the bizarre language of Election 2016.

With Brock Turner's release from jail after just three months, Angie revisits his trial and sentencing with Imani Gandy of Rewire, and Sajid Khan of the Santa Clara County, CA Public Defender's Office. Imani brings her signature wit to piercing points about not just the Turner sentence, but elements of rape culture and privilege behind it. Sajid Khan says what few have: that more jail time --- or even prison --- wouldn't necessarily be the answer in cases involving young offenders.

Then, linguist Geoffrey Nunberg tackles how Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are using language on the campaign trail to entice voters. His take: Trump never grew up, and Clinton can barely get a word in with the cor;oprate media.

Download MP3 or listen online below...

On today's BradCast, the great Heather Digby Parton of Hullabalo and Salon.com joins me to try and help us all make sense --- if that's even possible --- of Donald Trump's whirlwind visit to Mexico on Wednesday and his chilling speech on immigration policy in Phoenix on Wednesday night. [Audio link for show posted below.]

That's no easy feat, but we give it our best try, including a discussion about the success of Trump's calculated strategy to scam the corporate media with his daytime meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieta in advance of his evening speech in Arizona.

"All this discussion that's been going on about 'softening' and 'hardening' [his deportation policy] and whatever else --- in the end it was Trump himself who really wanted to give that speech that he ended up giving," Parton explains. "We ended up with this very strange, two parallel story lines that were being fed to the press. 'Look at the pivot! It's just so wonderful!' --- Then he goes to Arizona last night and basically leads a Nuremberg Rally."

It was, as we both concur, his creepiest, most truly frightening speech to date. As she notes, Trump was targeting immigrants, "illegal" and "legal" both, as "un-American parasites on the American system" and "the reason for whatever distress, both cultural and economic, that 'real' Americans are feeling."

Parton goes on to argue that his supporters ultimately "don't care what he says, it's the attitude with which he says it", and I unveil my new theory explaining why the GOP nominee keeps holding rallies in states where he is almost certain to lose and/or certain to win, as opposed to the swing-states he'll need to actually win the Presidency. (In short: Win the popular vote, lose the electoral college, claim to be the most beloved candidate with the added bonus of not actually having to serve as President. Win, win, win. Cherry on top: The scenario can also serve as even more evidence that the entire system is "rigged"!)

Then, Desi Doyen joins us for the latest Green News Report as two hurricanes and a U.S. President head toward Hawaii, even as another hurricane bears down on Florida and the East Coast...in an increasingly warming --- and frightening --- world...

CLICK TO LISTEN OR DOWNLOAD SHOW!...

MONTHLY BRAD BLOG SUBSCRIPTION	ONE-TIME DONATION
Choose monthly amount... $10 : $10.00 USD - monthly$20 : $20.00 USD - monthly$50 : $50.00 USD - monthly$100 : $100.00 USD - monthly	(Snail mail support to "Brad Friedman, 7095 Hollywood Blvd., #594 Los Angeles, CA 90028" always welcome too!)

Follow @GreenNewsReport...

(Or use "Click here to listen..." link below.)

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: President Obama urges climate action from Tahoe to Hawaii to Midway to his final presidential visit to Asia; Not one but two rare hurricanes threaten Hawaii as Obama visits; PLUS: Global insurance industry tells G20 to 'kick away the carbon crutches'... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Colombia: Three Environmental Activists Assassinated; Corps Approved Dakota Pipeline Over Objections of 3 Federal Agencies; Al Gore: The Clean Energy Revolution Is ‘A Dramatic New Reality’; Africa's elephants rapidly declining; Thousands of Homes Keep Flooding, Yet They Keep Being Rebuilt Again; Floridians Overwhelmingly Support Solar In Tuesday Vote; Colorado voters won't get to decide on new fracking rules... PLUS: Fuel economy: Want to know your car's true mileage? It's complicated... and much, MUCH more! ...