Gavin Newsom Saves 737 Lives
Guaranteed Second Term as CA Governor
March 13, 2019. Sacramento. With a stroke of a pen, Gavin Newsom courageously ended a death penalty that has seen too many innocent Californians executed, solely because they were Black, Hispanic, Native American, poor and indigent, and in the wrong place at the wrong time. Newsom, in addressing the public, noted that nationally 164 of those wrongly sentenced to death have been later exonerated. His order was bold and unprecedented. March 13th became a day of celebration for the millions of Californians who had fought for years to see this landmark event that will be remembered in history books. California, with the largest death row population of any U.S. state, becomes the 21st state to end the death penalty. Every other nation in the Western Hemisphere discontinued capital punishment many years ago.
Order N-09-19 begins with:
Order N-09-19 begins with:
“WHEREAS, California’s death penalty system is unfair unjust, wasteful, protracted and does not make our state safer.
“WHEREAS, the state’s bedrock responsibility is to ensure equal justice under the law applies to all persons, no matter their race, their mental ability, where they live or how much money they have.
“WHEREAS, death sentences are unevenly and unfairly applied to people of color, people with mental disabilities, and people who cannot afford costly legal representation.
“WHEREAS, innocent people have been sentenced to death in California. Moreover the National Academy of Science estimates that as many as one in every 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is innocent.”
This last sentence particularly strikes at the heart of the matters. Kevin Cooper, slated to be the next person to die in the death chamber, was subjected to a racist prosecution in which all or virtually all of the overwhelming evidence of his innocence was withheld from the jury and from Cooper’s attorney until long after his conviction and death sentence. Later jurors joined with Cooper to attempt to overturn the death sentence. Numerous witnesses would have testified that the killers were three white men as opposed to this one African-American man. Blood evidence was admittedly altered to make Cooper look guilty and bloody overalls of one of the probable killers supplied by the likely killer’s girlfriend were trashed by a deputy sheriff. Even a confession from one of the white men who reportedly perpetrated the crime was stuffed. With that stroke of the pen, an innocent Kevin Cooper will at least live four and probably eight more years and longer if Gavin Newsom continues to show courage by pardoning Cooper. In answer to a question about Cooper at an event in 2019, Gavin stated, “I don’t want to kill anyone, particularly not an innocent man.” Many saw this as an acknowledgement that he had come to the conclusion that Cooper is innocent.
The death sentences are technically postponed as opposed to abolished, However, the death chamber is being dismantled. Therefore, technically, those on death row will not lose rights by being shoved into LWOP (Life Without Possibility of Parole) where inmates have far fewer rights. Mumia Abu Jamal is being medically murdered and denied visitation rights in PA as a result of being transferred from death row into LWOP. He has an upcoming appeal but those close to him feel the State of Pennsylvania has done so much damage to him in LWOP that his health may never be recovered. Prior to being put in LWOP, Mumia had a regular radio broadcast, “Live from Death Row,” that inspired millions of American adults and children.
No one has been executed since 2006. The last California inmate to be executed was Charles Ray Allen, a Native American Chocktaw. He was deaf, blind and severely disabled, requiring a wheelchair. The real reason the death penalty ended though was the 40 minute brutally torturous execution of African-American Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Stan “Tookie” Williams who had worked to end gang violence in Los Angeles and who had created a truce between the Bloods and the Crips, saving an untold number of lives. His execution took place on December 13, 2005 and was the second to last execution in California.
The reason for the de facto moratorium until this year involved concerns over the chemical cocktail used to kill the executees. They failed to properly sedate Tookie as he was being painfully killed and so a new protocol had been required. The result was that 737 upcoming executions were pushed into Gavin’s lap and he was forced to make a decision, execute potentially innocent people, who were there because of their race or economic status or declare a moratorium. He chose not to kill and people around California are applauding.
Organizations with large memberships, such as the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the California Public Defenders Association and Death Penalty Focus, have fought long and hard to end the death penalty. One other young woman as a child made an impact within the California Democratic Party, the party of all members of the California Executive Branch and the super-majority within the California Assembly and Senate. This child was Natasha Hull-Richter, who, in 2004 wrote a resolution calling for a legislated moratorium of the death penalty of which the contents actually called for an abolition. Congresswoman Maxine Waters spoke to the party on behalf of Natasha’s resolution and convinced all but three members to vote in support of it. Mike Farrell, President of Death Penalty Focus, co-sponsored the resolution.
Former Assembly members Paul Koretz and Sally Lieber tried to push through a legislated moratorium on the death penalty but it was held up in the finance committee, reportedly because certain people in power wanted the legislation killed. To the left is a picture of Natasha and her brother Alexandar Lochinvar with Mike Farrell outside of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s house, rallying for Kevin Cooper prior to Cooper's 2004 stay of execution from the 9th Circuit. Schwarzenegger was well cast in his Terminator role with activists saying Arnold never heard of an inmate he didn’t want to terminate.
The death sentences are technically postponed as opposed to abolished, However, the death chamber is being dismantled. Therefore, technically, those on death row will not lose rights by being shoved into LWOP (Life Without Possibility of Parole) where inmates have far fewer rights. Mumia Abu Jamal is being medically murdered and denied visitation rights in PA as a result of being transferred from death row into LWOP. He has an upcoming appeal but those close to him feel the State of Pennsylvania has done so much damage to him in LWOP that his health may never be recovered. Prior to being put in LWOP, Mumia had a regular radio broadcast, “Live from Death Row,” that inspired millions of American adults and children.
No one has been executed since 2006. The last California inmate to be executed was Charles Ray Allen, a Native American Chocktaw. He was deaf, blind and severely disabled, requiring a wheelchair. The real reason the death penalty ended though was the 40 minute brutally torturous execution of African-American Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Stan “Tookie” Williams who had worked to end gang violence in Los Angeles and who had created a truce between the Bloods and the Crips, saving an untold number of lives. His execution took place on December 13, 2005 and was the second to last execution in California.
The reason for the de facto moratorium until this year involved concerns over the chemical cocktail used to kill the executees. They failed to properly sedate Tookie as he was being painfully killed and so a new protocol had been required. The result was that 737 upcoming executions were pushed into Gavin’s lap and he was forced to make a decision, execute potentially innocent people, who were there because of their race or economic status or declare a moratorium. He chose not to kill and people around California are applauding.
Organizations with large memberships, such as the California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, the California Public Defenders Association and Death Penalty Focus, have fought long and hard to end the death penalty. One other young woman as a child made an impact within the California Democratic Party, the party of all members of the California Executive Branch and the super-majority within the California Assembly and Senate. This child was Natasha Hull-Richter, who, in 2004 wrote a resolution calling for a legislated moratorium of the death penalty of which the contents actually called for an abolition. Congresswoman Maxine Waters spoke to the party on behalf of Natasha’s resolution and convinced all but three members to vote in support of it. Mike Farrell, President of Death Penalty Focus, co-sponsored the resolution.
Former Assembly members Paul Koretz and Sally Lieber tried to push through a legislated moratorium on the death penalty but it was held up in the finance committee, reportedly because certain people in power wanted the legislation killed. To the left is a picture of Natasha and her brother Alexandar Lochinvar with Mike Farrell outside of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s house, rallying for Kevin Cooper prior to Cooper's 2004 stay of execution from the 9th Circuit. Schwarzenegger was well cast in his Terminator role with activists saying Arnold never heard of an inmate he didn’t want to terminate.
In addition to the moral issues about executing people, there is the fact that over 66% of those on death row are people of color. This is a disproportionately high number of non-whites who were in danger of being exterminated in the state. The use of the death penalty has been repeatedly tied to white supremacy. In Kevin Cooper's case, the Ku Klux Klan was hanging black gorilla dolls outside his trial. Had the death penalty not been halted, Cooper would have been put to death for crimes committed by three white men.
Though leaders in organizations opposing the death penalty and in victims' rights groups were notified in advance, most Californians were surprised by the announcement. Across the state, people declared that Gavin had exceeded all expectations. Even people who did not vote for Newsom in the primary said that he absolutely earned his position when he declared the moratorium. Supporters of other primary candidates found themselves glad that Newsom was at the helm, stating that they did not believe their candidate would have had as much courage as shown by Gavin Newsom's courageous decision. Gavin will long be remembered as the Governor who saved more lives than any other Governor in the history of California.
Though leaders in organizations opposing the death penalty and in victims' rights groups were notified in advance, most Californians were surprised by the announcement. Across the state, people declared that Gavin had exceeded all expectations. Even people who did not vote for Newsom in the primary said that he absolutely earned his position when he declared the moratorium. Supporters of other primary candidates found themselves glad that Newsom was at the helm, stating that they did not believe their candidate would have had as much courage as shown by Gavin Newsom's courageous decision. Gavin will long be remembered as the Governor who saved more lives than any other Governor in the history of California.