A bill that would have closed down California's death row, and replaced capital punishment with life in prison, has been shelved. A legislative committee has instead agreed to defer the bill to 2012.

The bill, SB 490 was introduced by State Senator Loni Hancock. It is based on analysis that shows that California spends up to $181 million dollars a year on incarceration for death penalty, while very few inmates are actually put to death. In fact, according to the study, the 740 prisoners currently on death row in California are much more likely to die of old age than by execution.

However, the bill did not receive the votes necessary to pass the Assembly Appropriations Committee. The committee has 17 members, and Senator Hancock did not receive the necessary nine votes. Senator Hancock has now agreed to let the bill be converted into a two-year bill.

Supporters of the bill have also been trying to get the bill placed on the ballot. The California Taxpayers for Justice, a coalition of opponents of capital punishment has been trying to get the issue placed on the November 2012 ballot. They have been collecting signatures on a petition, and hope to get the bill passed without going through the legislature. The coalition includes victims, survivors, law enforcement officials and others who are opposed to the death penalty.

Los Angeles criminal defense lawyers are not surprised that the bill has been shelved for the time being. This is a volatile issue, with severely opposing views on both sides. However, it is likely that the bill will have more chance of passing in the near future, as California's fiscal concerns become even more pressing. In the next few years, Californians will have to make tough decisions about the sort of things that they are willing to spend money on - keeping prisoners on death row, versus basic services like healthcare and education.