Oscar White, and All Others Similarly Situated v. Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Secretary of State

White appeals a dismissal of his action to remove Proposition 17, the California Death Penalty Initiative, from the state’s November ballot. That initiative on its face purports to reinstate all of California provisions for the imposition of the death penalty that were in effect on February 17, 1972. February 17th is the date the California Supreme Court declared all such provisions violative of the California Constitution. People v. Anderson, 6 Cal.3d 628 , 100 Cal.Rptr. 152 , 493 P.2d 880 (1972).

White’s basic claim is that Proposition 17 would violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution, as applied by the United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 , 92 S.Ct. 2726 , 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (1972), and Moore v. Illinois, 408 U.S. 786 , 92 S.Ct. 2562 , 33 L.Ed.2d 706 (1972). In our view, White lacks standing to assert this claim.

According to White, the mere possibility of Proposition 17’s passage, regardless of the election’s actual result, will cause him the requisite injury in fact. See, e. g., Sierra Club v. Morton, 405 U.S. 727 , 92 S.Ct. 1361 , 31 L.Ed.2d 636 (1972); Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, 397 U.S.…