Judge rules that controversial wording in prop 34 is not misleading

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A Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that much of the ballot language on California’s Proposition 34 will remain the same.

A Sacramento Superior Court judge has ruled that much of the ballot language on California’s Proposition 34 will remain the same.

The November measure would repeal the death penalty in California. Judge Timothy Frawley said the ballot’s title and summary written by the state’s attorney general is not misleading.

Sacramento District Attorney Jan Scully and the state prosecutors’ association had challenged the wording.

“There were other assertions by the proponents in their ballot arguments that the judge labeled as hyperbole and as opinion," says Scully. "Translation: their assertions are exaggerated claims or opinions. Unfortunately, our laws allow for that.”

Proponents of repealing California’s death penalty say they are very pleased that the judge’s ruling keeps the language intact.

Only one word of the measure will be changed as a result of the ruling.