Gov. Gavin Newsom announces new statewide vaccine incentive program, May 27, 2021. (Photo: ca.gov video screenshot)
WSJ Support in Lacy v. Newsom Lawsuit to Repeal Death Penalty Protocols
Newsom has received extensive free ‘behested’ legal services, including $405,000 from David Boies
By James Lacy, August 29, 2021 2:15 am
The Wall Street Journal has published an opinion piece by editorial writer James Freeman that is supportive of the lawsuit filed against California Governor Gavin Newsom for exceeding his legal authority in repealing California’s lethal injection death penalty regulations and ordering the dismantlement of the death chamber at San Quentin.
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 the lawsuit, which challenges the Governor’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 now also 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%.
All that money cannot hide the fact the Newsom lied and lied about the death penalty:
California Gov. Newsom: Dead Wrong on All Death Penalty Points
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 (bold), followed by my comments.
Bias by race:
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
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
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
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
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
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
Poll 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? 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 upon request sharpjfa@aol.com
I’ve never forgotten how Newsom LIED about the death penalty before he was elected and then totally traumatised those victims’ families after getting them together under false pretences. I’m glad someone is trying to thwart him in court. Best idea: Recall this lying scumbag.
I haven’t forgotten either he didn’t waste any time breaking his promise and proving everything he said about honoring the will of the people on capital punishment was a flat out lie. If he’s not lying he’s deceiving or twisting the narrative to fit his personal agenda.
Lets be real shall we? To date there are 707 residents on Death Row in California and out of 707 under 50 of them are affirmed. For those of you who know everything and nothing at the same time this means they have exhausted all appeals and can actually be executed. I know what you are thinking. Well we should kill them faster. We cannot because we make mistakes and the death penalty is very final. I can hear your thoughts on this as well. ” Every inmate says they are innocent”. Actually No every inmate does not and even if they did. Vicente Benavides was 68 years old when it was found that while he was accused of raping and killing his girlfriends 2 year old daughter in 1993. the baby was actually harmed by the medical professionals inserting a catheter. It took 25 years to free him. If we executed faster he would be dead. Sadly there are many others like Vicente that are innocent and have lived a life of misery in a cage for decades while you foamed at the mouth to watch them die. NOW lets talk about the victims families that you are so concerned for. When you give a death penalty it causes families to believe this event must happen for them to receive ” justice” and more than likely they will never see said event in their lifetime so you leave them walking around with this huge open wound their whole lives. If at some point they want to forgive the offender or even have a conversation with them they cannot due to the numerous appeals the resident of death row has. If you gave the offender a sentence any sentence other than death the family would find peace and closure. So dont speak about victims families unless you have been a victims family member that had to go through a death penalty. Gavin did the right thing.