"An odd conservative split on Propositions 34 and 36"

The title of this post is the headline of this notable new piece in the Los Angeles Times, and here is how it starts:

A fascinating dichotomy has emerged between the two criminal justice initiatives on the Nov. 6 California ballot.  Both are aimed at reducing harsh sentences and thus saving the state money, yet one has attracted support from conservatives and is expected to win handily, while the other is opposed widely by conservatives and trailing in the polls.  Why?

Proposition 36, which would tweak the state's three-strikes sentencing law by making it less likely that third-strikers who commit minor crimes end up with life terms, has been endorsed by Republican law-and-order types such as L.A. County Dist. Atty.  Steve Cooley, and such GOP heavy-hitters as tax watchdog Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform.  Bipartisan support for the measure probably explains why its passage is all but assured.  A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll last month found 66% of voters supporting the measure with only 20% opposed, and although other surveys have pegged the race as a closer call, none have shown a margin of less than 2-to-1 in favor of the initiative.

That's a sharp contrast with Proposition 34, which would replace the state's death penalty with a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.  The USC/Times poll found it trailing 38% to 51%.  And while it does have some conservative backers, they're not as influential as those supporting Proposition 36.  Perhaps the most prominent is Don Heller, a Republican prosecutor who drafted the ballot initiative that reinstated California's death penalty in 1978 but who now thinks it was a terrible mistake.  The overwhelming majority of Proposition 34's supporters are Democrats or liberal organizations such as the American Civil Liberties Union.  A Field Poll last month found that 50% of Democrats support it, but only 23% of Republicans.

What's puzzling about this is that in many ways, the two initiatives are quite similar.  In his statement endorsing Proposition 36, Norquist said: "The Three Strikes Reform Act is tough on crime without being tough on taxpayers.  It will put a stop to wasting hundreds of millions in taxpayers' hard-earned money, while protecting people from violent crime." One could say the exact same thing about Proposition 34, which has not met Norquist's favor.