Clock is ticking for Gavin Newsom to commute death sentences, advocates say
THE CLOCK IS TICKING
Gov. Gavin Newsom still has a year and a half left in office, but advocates are starting their call now for him to commute, or reduce, all death sentences in California.
The state has 585 people sentenced to death. Throughout his time in the top office, Newsom has repeatedly spoken out against the death penalty system, calling it “a failure” that discriminates based on race and wealth with “no public safety benefit or value as a deterrent.”
In 2019, he set a moratorium on the death penalty and repealed the lethal injection protocol. In 2022, he dismantled the death row at San Quentin Prison, sending condemned prisoners to 20 other state facilities.
The California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition said converting all death penalty sentences to life without parole would help Newsom cement his legacy. Dozens of supporters gathered for a news conference Thursday morning outside the Capitol.
“In any moment, the moratorium could end, someone can come in and say, ‘You know what, no, let’s kill them all,’ ” said Lisa Holder, President of the Equal Justice Society, a nonprofit legal and policy advocacy organization.
For the hundreds in limbo, Holder said, “It is the opposite of life. It is a living death.”
Organizers said they’re calling for the governor to make the move soon because more than 60% of those on death row have a separate felony conviction that would require the State Supreme Court to approve the commutation.
The move wouldn’t be without precedent. Former President Joe Biden commuted most of the sentences of people on death row in federal prison before he left office, and the governors of Oregon and Colorado also did so in recent years.
The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.
COUNCIL MEMBER, TEACHER TO FACE OFF FOR ESSAYLI SEAT
via Nicole Nixon
Two candidates will compete in an August special election to fill the state Assembly seat vacated by Bill Essayli, who was appointed U.S. Attorney earlier this year.
Unofficial election results Thursday showed Natasha Johnson, a Republican city councilmember in Lake Elsinore, with 46%.
Democrat Chris Shoults, a teacher and union leader, had 43%. Two other primary candidates received support in the single digits.
A winner for the western Riverside County seat will be determined in an August 26 general election.
“I’m encouraged by the strong Republican turnout in the 63rd Assembly District and confident that momentum will continue as the remaining ballots are counted,” Johnson said, adding that “we need a commonsense Republican voice in Sacramento.”
Johnson has served on her city council since 2012, including a stint as mayor. She’s endorsed by Essayli, along with Rep. Ken Calvert, Sheriff Chad Bianco and other GOP officials from Riverside County.
Shoults had endorsements from labor groups and Speaker Robert Rivas. Following the Tuesday night primary, he argued residents in the district “are ready for a change.”
“Voters are hungry for real solutions, not partisan extremism and chaos, and I’m ready to continue this fight to make life more affordable, invest in our schools, develop our communities responsibly, and keep our neighborhoods safe,” he said.
Shoults also ran for the seat last year but lost to Essayli by nearly 15 points.
During his time in the Legislature, Essayli often tried to force debate on culture war issues via parliamentary maneuvers and was little-liked by members of the Legislature’s Democratic super-majority.
He was sworn as U.S. Attorney for California’s Central District in early April, where he’s continued to bedevil state leaders by assisting with the Trump administration’s forceful immigration agenda and targeting state laws allowing transgender girls to compete in girls’ sports.
KILEY TAKES ON A SPELLING BEE
via David Lightman
Rep. Kevin Kiley was felled by koji. The word, not the food.
The Roseville Republican competed this week in the annual Press & Politicians spelling bee at Washington’s National Press Club.
He spelled koji k-o-j-e. The Food Network web site defines it as “a type of mold called Aspergillus oryzae. Koji also refers to cooked rice (or other grains like barley) or soybeans that have been inoculated with that mold.”
The winner of the event was Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va.
“Some of the words he spelled I never heard of,” said Kiley.
According to Roll Call, the bee came down to a duel between Beyer and Jessica Mendoza, a Wall Street Journal podcast co-host. She got “caryatid” correct and Beyer misspelled “espalier.”
Mendoza, though, couldn’t spell “trichinosis” correctly, and Beyer got the win.
Funds from sponsors and ticket sales go to the nonprofit National Press Club Journalism Institute, which engages in press freedom activities, training, scholarship awards and other activities.
The first bee was held in 1913, with President Woodrow Wilson in the audience. Six journalists and five members of Congress competed in this year’s event.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“As a doctor, I know this puts women’s health at serious risk. It allows states to strip millions of women of access to the lifesaving care Planned Parenthood provides and denies them the right to choose their own doctor. This is unacceptable. Healthcare decisions should be made by patients, not by politicians or judges.”
— U.S. Rep. Ami Bera, a Sacramento Democrat and a physician, about Supreme Court ruling allowing funding cuts to Planned Parenthood, in an X post
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