Gavin Newsom is trying to erase every death sentence in California on his way out of the governor’s office.
The sweeping move covers 548 condemned inmates and would replace each death sentence with life in prison without the possibility of parole.
It is the largest mass death-row clemency action in American history. It is also a direct rebuke to juries, judges and voters who repeatedly upheld capital punishment in California.
One of the men affected is Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas before showing contempt for her family at sentencing.
The California governor’s clemency page says the same change will be made to every death sentence and that none of the offenders will become eligible for release. Newsom’s office says the prisoners will remain behind bars for life.
That does not make the decision small. A death sentence is the judgment imposed after a capital trial; Newsom is attempting to replace 548 of those judgments in one stroke.
His office also acknowledges that the commutations are not yet effective. Required legal steps must be completed first, and victims registered with the state will be notified when the changes take effect.
The biggest legal obstacle involves prisoners who have been convicted of more than one felony.
California Courts Newsroom reports that Newsom told the state Supreme Court he plans to commute all 548 sentences. Under the California Constitution, however, the governor cannot grant clemency to a twice-convicted felon unless at least four justices recommend it.
That means hundreds of cases still require action from the California Supreme Court. Newsom can announce a blanket plan, but he cannot simply wave away the constitutional role assigned to the justices.
Another condemned inmate in the group is Robert Rhoades, who kidnapped, raped and murdered 8-year-old Michael Lyons as the boy walked home from school.
Newsom argues that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values and says every condemned offender should receive the same replacement sentence.
California voters have said otherwise more than once. They rejected efforts to abolish the death penalty in 2012 and 2016, then approved a separate 2016 measure intended to speed up the appeals process.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow called Newsom’s action a sickening abuse of power. Dow pointed to victims Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford and 19-month-old Kesha Gurke, whose killers received death sentences from California juries.
He said the announcement put the governor’s personal ideology above the verdicts delivered in individual murder cases. The district attorney argued that victims’ families had spent years enduring trials, appeals and delays before this blanket announcement.
Dow’s statement also notes that voters restored capital punishment in 1972, expanded it in 1978 and twice refused to repeal it. In 2016, Californians went further and approved a measure aimed at speeding up death-penalty appeals.
His argument is blunt: one outgoing governor should not get to erase hundreds of case-by-case verdicts because of his personal opposition to the death penalty.
Randy Kraft is another name on the list. He was convicted of murdering 16 young men, and investigators have linked him to dozens of additional killings.
No one on Newsom’s list will walk free because of these commutations. That fact should be reported accurately.
But victims’ families are also entitled to accuracy: juries heard the evidence, judges entered the sentences, and California voters repeatedly preserved the law. Those decisions are now being overridden wholesale by a governor preparing to leave office.
The California Supreme Court must still decide whether to recommend clemency in hundreds of the cases. Prosecutors and victims’ advocates are also considering legal challenges.
Newsom may want this to be remembered as an act of mercy. For families who endured the worst crimes imaginable and spent decades waiting for finality, it looks much more like the state breaking its word.
The post Newsom Moves to Erase 548 Death Sentences — Hundreds Still Need Court Approval appeared first on 100PercentFedUp.com.
Continue reading...
[H/T 100PercentFedUp]
