Ending the Death Penalty in California: A PUBLIC AWARENESS FORUM ON PROP 34

Ron Ahnen will discuss conditions and cost of California's Supermax Prisons and the Prisoners' Hunger Strike. Professor Ahnen teaches in the Politics Department at Saint Mary's College in Moraga. He is President of California Prison Focus, a non-profit human rights organization whose mission is to expose human rights violations in the California Prison system.

Jeanne Woodford is the Executive Director of Death Penalty Focus. As the warden of San Quentin, Jeanne presided over four executions. After each one, someone on the staff would ask, "Is the world safer because of what we did tonight?" She knew the answer was no. She worked in corrections for 30 years, starting as a correctional officer, working her way up to warden at San Quentin and then on to the top job in the state -- director of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. During those years, she came to believe that the death penalty should be replaced with life without the possibility of parole.

Darryl Stallworth, an advocate with SAFE California, has used his experience in the criminal justice system to learn how to impact justice in crime prevention. Stalworth is the former Assistant District Attorney for Alameda County.