People v. Anderson The court ruled in
People v. Anderson that capital punishment was contrary to Article 1, Section 6 of the state constitution, which forbade "cruel
or unusual punishment", and was held to be more strict than the similarly worded provision of the
Eighth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution that says "cruel
and unusual punishment". Proposition 17 amended the state constitution by adding
Article 1, Section 27, which reads:
People v. Frierson In 1979, it was argued before the California Supreme Court (in
People v. Frierson) that Proposition 17 was unconstitutional, as it amounted to a "revision" rather than an "amendment" of the state constitution, and a revision may not be enacted by an initiative. The court rejected this argument. Justice
Stanley Mosk filed a
concurring opinion in which he reluctantly agreed with the judgment of the court, but also expressed his dismay at the response of the electorate to
Anderson: ==Aftermath==