Gov. Gavin Newsom announces new statewide vaccine incentive program, May 27, 2021. (Photo: ca.gov video screenshot)
Gov. Newsom Received More Than $700,000 in Behested Legal Services to Establish and Defend His Death Penalty Moratorium
Californians remain generally supportive of the death penalty law
By James Lacy, August 14, 2021 2:20 am
A Sacramento County Superior Court Judge has continued on its own motion to August 31, a hearing on mutual Summary Adjudication motions, in response to a lawsuit that challenges the Governor Gavin Newsom’s powers to repeal death penalty rules and dismantle the death chamber at San Quentin and which claims that the Governor’s actions establishing a death penalty “moratorium” by Executive Order in 2019 is legally flawed.
While the case is still pending, public disclosures and a news report now reveal that the Governor has accepted more than $700,000 from two major law firms to both create and defend his Executive Order.
Rather than relying on the Attorney General’s office, Newsom has received extensive free “behested” legal services, including $405,000 in legal services from the private law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner, to help him craft his “moratorium,” as well as an additional $305,385 from the law firm of O’Melveny and Myers to defend the alleged faulty Order in court, according to public disclosures. While the Los Angeles-based O’Melveny and Myers has represented Newsom pro bono in the legal challenge to the Executive Order, it has also received at least $600,000 in state funds representing the Newsom Administration in other cases.
Californians remain generally supportive of the death penalty law according to the most probative recent polling of the issue. Early in June, the national polling firm of McLaughlin and Associates found 49% of Californians would vote No if a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty is placed on the ballot in 2022 by the Legislature, while 43.8% would vote Yes. When voters are informed of issues that would be raised during a campaign to repeal the death penalty, opposition to repeal increases to a majority of 53.3% of voters saying No to abolishing California’s death penalty law, and support drops to just 40.5%. See poll results: https://usjf.net/wp-
How incredible convenient?? Newsom is a crook, period full stop
For free. Newsom lied and then . . .he lied.
Gov. Newsom: Dead Wrong on Death Penalty
From: Dudley Sharp, pro death penalty expert, former opponent
Houston, Texas, 832-439-2113, sharpjfa@aol.com
Gov. Newsom: Dead Wrong on Death Penalty
Gov. Newsom lied and, then, he lied . . .
“As a gubernatorial candidate, Newsom solemnly pledged to abide by the voters’ death-penalty decisions, despite disagreeing with them. He promised to be “accountable to the will of the voters” and not let his “personal opinions” interfere with “the public’s right to make a determination” about capital punishment. His spokesman last year told the San Francisco Chronicle that Newsom “recognizes that California voters have spoken on the issue and [would] respect the will of the electorate.” In editorial-board meetings, Newsom agreed that “it would be an affront for a governor to say ‘Here’s what I’m going to do by fiat.’ ” (Gavin Newsom’s death-row betrayal, by Jeff Jacoby, The Boston Globe March 20, 2019)
Newsom lied, of course, and his deceptions continue.
Newsom’s, alleged, concerns over the death penalty followed by my reply.
Bias by race:
Reply: Nationally, white murderers are twice as likely to be executed, as are black murderers (1) and have an execution rate 41% higher than black death row inmates (2).
From 1980-2008, for the White–Black comparisons, the Black level is 12.7 times greater than the White level for homicide, 15.6 times greater for robbery, 6.7 times greater for rape (3).
Robbery and rape murders are the most common death penalty crimes (4).
There is no race of the defendant nor race of the victim bias effect within capital murders (5).
Bias against the poor
Reply: We execute 0.2% of our murderers (6). It is, solely, dependent upon one’s definitions of poor and rich, as to whether the rich, a vast minority of capital murderers, are executed at rates higher or lower than the poor, the vast majority of capital murderers.
We, the people, spared no expense defending (poor) Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh (7), executed four years after sentencing (8).
Too expensive
Reply: The two recent Ca studies for death penalty vs life costs are a sham (9).
Both studies included $15,000/yr for capital murder lifers, when the “average” cell cost was more than $45,000/yr (10) (now $84,000/yr, 2017-2018 (10a)), with high security cells up to $174,000/yr. (11), or about $5 million, for 50 years, at $100,000/yr/inmate, for capital murder lifers, WHICH DOES NOT INCLUDE pre trial, trial, nor appeals costs, nor specific geriatric care, being 3-9 times average cell cost (12), adding millions more to the total, resulting in life being more expensive than the death penalty, all left out of those two “studies”, both of which included the obvious lie of a $15,000/yr cost for capital murderer lifers.
Repeal of the death penalty ends life without parole pleas, leaving only life with parole.
Innocents at risk
Reply: Newsom parrots that 1 out of 25 death row inmates are innocent. Nonsense.
The current claim by death penalty opponents (DPO) is that 164 (1.8%) (13) were “exonerated”, wherein DPO thought it a good idea to redefine both “innocent” and “exonerated”, as redefining lie as truth, and then stuck a bunch of cases into those “revised” definitions (13,14,15).
NY Times reported “innocent” claims to be 71% false (16). Today, that being 116 false claims of the 164 claimed “exonerated”, or 48 (0.6%) proven innocent, all of whom have been released (16). The false claims of innocence range from 71-83% (17) .
That deception is the foundation of the 1 out of 25 “study” (18).
We might have proof that innocents were executed as recently as 1915 – two brothers from South Carolina (19). Tragic.
The major innocents problem, nationally, as within California, is this:
Since 1973:
21,000 innocents have been murdered by those KNOWN murderers that we have allowed to murder, again – recidivist murderers (20);
440,000 innocents have been murdered by those KNOWN criminals that we have allowed to harm, again – recidivist criminals (20).
Living murderers harm and murder, again. Executed ones do not.
Where are the innocents at risk?
No deterrence
Reply: The deterrent effect of severe sanctions and severe negative incentives has never been negated and cannot be. The evidence that some are deterred is overwhelming (21). The evidence that none are deterred is non existent (21).
Absent the death penalty/executions, we risk sacrificing more innocent lives. With the death penalty/executions, we “risk” saving more innocent lives.
Pick your risk.
Nobel Prize Laureate Gary Becker: “the evidence of a variety of types — not simply the quantitative evidence — has been enough to convince me that capital punishment does deter and is worth using for the worst sorts of offenses.” (NY Times, 11/18/07)
“(Becker) is the most important social scientist in the past 50 years The NY Times, 5/5/14
Reply: Bias against the mentally ill
Newsom is, fully, aware that competency is considered pre trial, trial and within appeals, to determine if the defendant/convicted party is, legally, competent to be held responsible for their crimes.
Polling
Reply: RepltPoll support is 70-80%, with actual cases (22). For example, ask: Do you support a death sentence in cases wherein children have been raped/tortured/murdered? With answer options of — sometimes — always — never.
Execution support was 81% for Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, with near equal support over all demographics. 58% of those who OPPOSE execution, supported McVeigh’s execution (23) – the “sometimes” component is huge.
Death penalty problems?
Reply: Nope. Management problems
Human management is irresponsible, not the death penalty. Newsom is oblivious.
Responsible management exists in Virginia. Since 1976, Virginia has executed 112 murderers, within 7 years of FULL appeals, on average (24).
Had California management been responsible, as Virginia, there would, now, be 47 murderers on death row, not 737 (25).
Newsom has shown his contempt for truth, justice, jurors, citizens, innocent rape/torture/murder victims and their survivors.
Murderers and their advocates are jubilant.
Footnotes avaible upon request – sharpjfa@aol.com