Until you are faced with the grim realities of a life-ending jail sentence, it’s nearly impossible to imagine how it must feel to live each hour anticipating the moment your life will be taken away from you, the day of execution, the day your life literally ends.

For decades, the country has debated just how justifiable the death penalty really is. For many, it may sound unfair, even hypocritical, but for others—like Tom Nelson, who saw his grandmother’s murderer escape his sentence—it is considered as a way of finding peace. 

Today 18 states within the U.S. have abolished capital punishment altogether; California, a relatively liberal state, is not among them. 

Just two years ago, 52 percent of California voters narrowly defeated a proposal that would have put a stop to the death penalty. Far from abolishing it, California has the most people on death row, with nearly 750 inmates costing the state upwards of 4 billion dollars. Yet surprisingly, only 13 executions have been recorded since the law was reinstated in 1972. By contrast, Texas leads in the number of prisoner executions with 500 more—including the execution of convicted killer Ray L. Jasper.

READ MORE: Proposition 34 Loses, But Support For Death Penalty In California Weakening

Former governors George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Gray Davis are set to propose a constitutional amendment for the November ballot that could actually shorten the death penalty appeals process, ultimately speeding up the time from conviction to execution in the state of California.

The trio recently launched a signature drive http://www.deathpenaltyreform.com/governors-george-deukmejian-pete-wilson-and-gray-davis-kick-off-signature-gathering-drive/ to qualify the proposed piece of legislation. If passed, the law would establish a quicker and easier process for inmates to reach execution with fewer legal interventions.

Nelson, 31, believes the measure will help create closure for those who lost loved ones at the hands of inmates on death row. 

“I had just turned six years old when it happened,” said Nelson. “So, growing up knowing my grandmother’s killer was still alive had put fear into me. I honestly believe speeding up the appeals process would help future families who will have to face such a long and difficult situation. It’s not easy.”

Nelson’s Grandmother, Joyce Lucille Nelson was one of thirteen victims murdered in 1985 by Richard Ramirez, the “Night Stalker.” He was convicted with a death sentence in 1989 but, like many others sentenced to capital punishment, he died of natural causes in prison after 24 years of waiting. 

“I remember watching a weekend TV news show and being shocked to hear that [Ramirez] had just started his initial rounds of appeals, this was over 10 years after he was convicted,” said Nelson. “We have people sitting on Death Row today who we know are guilty of their crimes and are likely to die in prison before anything gets done.”

READ MORE: Snuffing Out The Light Of Capital Punishment

According to those behind the proposal, this initiative will help establish a faster, more convenient process to get death sentences finalized. If passed, Californians For Death Penalty Reform and Savings, would enable most cases to be brought down from the State Supreme Court to the California Court of Appeals.

“Right now, it takes about 15 years to have a first appeal heard because the California Supreme Court is so far behind,” explained Chris Orrock, a consultant and representative for former Governor Gray Davis. “In fact, 75 percent of the cases that are assigned to the California Supreme Court right now are death penalty cases.”

The new ballot initiative would shorten death row cases to a five-year court deadline for appeals. Currently it takes 20 to 25 years to get a death penalty appeal heard for most cases, making capital punishment a costly and tedious process. 

“California cares very deeply about making sure we get it right, that is why we have legal protection specific to death penalty cases that require attorneys to be specialists in this kind of law,” said Ana Zamora of SAFE California, pointing out that the new death penalty measure does not offer any solution to the current shortage of defense attorneys qualified to handle death penalty appeals. 

Instead, the proposal focuses on creating a five-year court deadline that if passed, would “save California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars… due to condemned inmates spending fewer years on death row awaiting review of their automatic appeals,” according to Californians For Death Penalty Reform and Savings.

Further money could be saved by new stipulations to minimize the legal penalties for doctors who approve the lethal injections for prisoners by protecting their suggestions under state law and to allow prisoners sentenced to capital punishment to reside and work alongside the general prison population, rather than continuing to reside in single cells in San Quentin State Prison.

“This initiative will bring common sense reform to a broken system,” according to Governor Gray Davis. But others claim that California’s Death Penalty is broken beyond repair.

READ MORE: Boston Bomber Tsarnaev Faces Death Penalty, Probably Won't Happen

Zamora believes there is only one solution to the costly and “unfair” matter.

“The state’s death penalty procedure is riddled with flaws from top to bottom and it is enormously expensive,” said Zamora. “No matter what anyone might wish or might say, the simple truth is it cannot be fixed. The only solution is to keep killers who commit heinous crimes in prison for life without parole.”

Nelson, however, believes that majority support will likely help this proposal get to the ballot in November. “This ballot initiative does have a great amount of support, this state has always voted for the death penalty in the end,” said Nelson. “I'm really hoping that it goes through since it would help so many families see justice get done.”

Still, SAFE California raises less quantifiable questions of morality.

“If it were to qualify, it would make radical changes to the death penalty that would make our state more like Virginia and Texas and executes people at a very fast rate,” Zamora said. “I don’t think California would like this kind of justice because it will also risk executing innocent people.”

So far, there have been no records of anyone in the state of California being proven innocent before or after execution, but Zamora insisted that “we always run the risk of executing an innocent person—even when you have strict laws like we do in California.”

READ MORE: The Death Penalty Should Not Be Abolished  

Orrock argued that the death penalty proposal would actually hasten the delivery of justice—or freedom—to inmates. “If they are found to be innocent or found to be wrongfully convicted because of bad evidence or bad council, they would have that appeal heard and remedied in a shorter time frame,” he said.

Although California’s majority has voted for the death penalty time and time again, Ana worries that the proponents of this initiative are on the wrong side of history.

Just recently, Washington State governor Jay Inslee said he would suspend executions in Washington State based on the fact that the death penalty carries enormous costs and is fundamentally unfair. In 2013, the governor of Colorado also halted executions during his term, and in 2011 Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber took a similar stance in suspending Oregon executions.

“West Coast governors are essentially saying the death penalty is unfair and costly,” Zamora said. “Wherever you look, the death penalty in California is broken beyond repair and the only solution is to make sure that people who commit heinous crimes die in prison.”

READ MORE: The Death Penalty Should Be Abolished

So, how many signatures will it take to get this proposal passed for the November ballot?

Under California law, all constitutional changes under the state require 807,615 signatures by the end of the month. Gathering hundreds of thousands of signatures in the remaining time could cost the proposers millions.

“This initiative will not fix or speed up the death penalty. It will only cause more delays and it will cost more money to implement,” said Zamora. “I say it is time for California to join Washington State, Oregon and the other states that have ended their death penalty in the last six years.”

As for Nelson, he thinks the measure to simplify and speed up the death penalty process is a step in the direction.

“For me, closure comes the day I die and get to see her again in heaven. But I know, had his sentence been carried out, it probably would have helped me a little to face this monster who did what he did to her,” said Nelson.

To reach Minerva Ruelas, you can email her here, or follow her on Twitter.