Countywide : Anti-Crime Measure Qualifies for Ballot

A court-reform initiative sponsored by Sen. Edward R. Royce (R-Anaheim) was certified Tuesday to appear on the June 6 ballot, Secretary of State March Fong Eu announced.

Eu said in Sacramento that random sampling conducted by her office indicated that 665,162 of the signatures submitted with the Royce initiative were valid. To put a measure on the ballot requires 655,034 names.

With Tuesday’s certification, the Royce measure becomes the first initiative to qualify for the June ballot, which also features nine other legislative proposals, including a gas tax increase.

Royce’s measure, known as the Crime Victims’ Initiative, is designed to streamline criminal trials by changing the way jurors are selected and by imposing time constraints on court-appointed attorneys. It also expands the definition of first-degree murder and broadens the use of capital punishment for murders committed under special circumstances.