California Supreme Court Case Study

211 Words1 Pages
In November 1978, Proposition 7 passed in California which created automatic appeals on death penalty cases, “cases in which the death penalty has been decreed are automatically reviewed by the California Supreme Court” (par. 19.). The automatic review created a system where every death sentence would be reviewed by the California Supreme Court. This is one cause of court delays in the appeal process. Scott Howe is a researcher at Chapman University School of law who investigated the severe backlog of cases to be heard by the courts. Howe observed that “death sentences have been generated in the trial courts at a much greater rate than they have been resolved on direct appeal” (1452). With more death sentences being assigned than appeal cases