Californians Split on Death Penalty:  A new Field Poll released Friday indicates that California voters are equally divided between abolishing death penalty and shortening the path to execution.  State voters are likely to face this on the November ballot.  Howard Mintz of the San Jose Mercury News reports that the poll found that 47 percent of voters favor replacing the state's capital punishment with life in prison without parole, while 48 percent support proposals to speed up the "notoriously slow" system, In 2012, voters rejected an effort to abolish California's death penalty by a 52 to 48 margin, and supporters of an accelerated appeals process predict that 2016 will result in the same outcome.  In the event that both measures are approved come November, the one with the most votes would settle the dispute.  California, with the largest death row in the country, with 750 condemned murderers, has not carried out an execution for nearly a decade because of legal challenges to the state's lethal injection process. 

Former Inmate Arrested in Murder of Sheriff's Deputy:  Following the discovery of a sheriff's deputy in a shallow grave near her Louisiana home earlier this week, an ex-convict has been arrested in connection with her murder.  Bill Fuller of the AP reports that the body of 69-year-old Sulyn Prince, who worked in the control room at the Bayou Dorcheat Correctional Center and was a 12-year employee of the Webster Parish jail, was found late Monday.  Evidence in her Homer home led to the arrest of 35-year-old Jermaine Johnson, Prince's neighbor and a former inmate of the jail where Prince worked.  In 2009, Johnson was indicted on an aggravated rape charge and held in Webster Parish jail until 2015 when he pleaded guilty to simple rape, was sentence to the five years he had already served and released.  He faces a charge of second-degree murder, which carries a mandatory life sentence.  Details regarding motive and how Prince was killed have not been made public.

Feds Want to Lower The Blood-Alcohol Limit:  A list of policies that the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) hopes to implement nationally were released Wednesday, consisting of recommendations to reduce the current 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC) limit and ban all cell phone use while driving, including hands-free technology.  Elizabeth Harrington of the Free Beacon reports that the NTSB is pushing for states to lower the threshold for DWI/DUI to 0.05 BAC "because research clearly shows that most people are impaired by the time they reach 0.05."  If implemented, a 0.05 BAC level would reduce the number of drinks an average weight man could consume to two, while women could have just one.  The agency also recommends a complete ban on hands-free technology in cars, noting that "[h]ands-free cell phone use causes cognitive distraction."

Police Chiefs, Sheriffs Urge Call to Arms:  Law enforcement officials nationwide are openly encouraging responsible gun ownership, believing guns allow citizens to defend themselves when police are unable to.  Fox News reports that police chiefs and sheriffs in rural and big-city departments around the country, including Florida, Oklahoma, Wisconsin.  Even states with the strictest gun laws like California, Maryland and Michigan, some chiefs and sheriffs are urging citizens to arm themselves.  Many departments are taking steps to make it easier for law-abiding citizens to obtain handgun permits.  The changing attitude partly reflects the attitudes of the people they serve, who have grown more concerned for their safety in the face of "the ever-increasing crime and violence in many communities.  According to the Crime Prevention Research Center, the number of concealed handgun permits soared from 4.6 million in 2007 to 12.8 million in 2015.  A 2000 Gallup poll showed that 35 percent of the population felt safer with a gun in the house.  By 2014, the poll found that 63% of respondents reported feeling safer with a gun.