Follow-up: Legal Foundation Announces Challenge to Newsom's 548 Death-Row Commutations as Prosecutors Prepare Supreme Court Filings

In Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, a public-interest legal organization, held a press conference on the west steps of the State Capitol on the afternoon of November 12 to announce a legal challenge to Governor Gavin Newsom's decision to commute the sentences of all 548 people on California's death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman and Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer were among the prosecutors who publicly backed the challenge the same day.

The foundation, led by President and CEO Anne Marie Schubert, was joined by representatives of Crime Victims United, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California District Attorneys Association, the Chief Probation Officers of California and the California State Sheriffs Association, along with victims' family members from across the state. The foundation said the press conference was intended to give a voice to victims who were not heard in the governor's decision.

In its statement, the foundation said Newsom's decision disregards the will of California voters, who have repeatedly affirmed the death penalty at the ballot box: voters rejected Proposition 34, which would have abolished the death penalty, in 2012, rejected Proposition 62 in 2016 and instead approved Proposition 66 to reform and expedite the death penalty process. The foundation said the blanket action overrides jury verdicts and court judgments.

In a statement, Hochman said he stands firmly with the foundation in challenging the commutation, adding that when prosecutors bring cases on behalf of victims' families, they promise those families that the facts and the law will play out in a courtroom. According to his office, about 382 of the 548 cases involve people convicted of more than one felony, whose commutations require approval by the California Supreme Court, and 162 of the condemned inmates are from Los Angeles County, including Chester Turner, known as the "Southside Slayer," and Michael Gargiulo, known as the "Hollywood Ripper."

Spitzer held a press conference with victims' relatives in Orange County on Thursday morning, said he will file papers with the California Supreme Court opposing the governor's order, and plans to file a motion on Monday, November 16. He said that under the law the condemned inmate needs to make the request in the first instance, arguing the governor did not follow those processes, and said he hopes the Supreme Court will stay the commutations, hold hearings on an individual basis, and leave the decisions to the next governor, Xavier Becerra.

Announcing the commutations on November 5, Newsom wrote in an open letter that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values. California has not carried out an execution since January 17, 2006, and Newsom issued a moratorium on executions in 2019. Newsom's term ends on January 4, and whether the 382 commutations requiring court review can be completed before then depends on the California Supreme Court's review. (Source: Criminal Justice Legal Foundation)

Source: Criminal Justice Legal Foundation

Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：加州议会大厦（Sacramento），公共领域。 / Photo: California State Capitol in Sacramento, public domain.

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