California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), in his infinite progressive wisdom, has declared the death penalty “racist” and a “system perpetuating inequality,” halting the executions of death row inmates with an executive order.
President Trump, joined by others who were disgusted with the decision, immediately rebuked the progressive California Democrat, via Twitter:
Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers. Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 13, 2019
Californians have repeatedly upheld the death penalty. Yesterday, @GavinNewsom told voters, victims, & their families their voice doesn’t matter. Sign this petition & tell the Governor to uphold the will of the people. #CADeservesBetter #DeathPenalty https://t.co/X6Z6bHXbjP pic.twitter.com/mYISwPAQJX
— CA Assembly GOP (@AssemblyGOP) March 14, 2019
Placer County Sheriff Devon Bell discusses Gov. Newsom’s recent decision to issue a moratorium on the #DeathPenalty in #California. pic.twitter.com/FRJtW5MCix
— Placer Sheriff (@PlacerSheriff) March 13, 2019
On Friday, Newsom was a guest on “CBS This Morning,” during which he explained his “good conscience” viewpoint:
“There are 737 inmates on death row in California – most of any state in the nation. But that could change now that Gov. Gavin Newsom, who took office in January, halted executions with an executive order.
‘Just last year we had someone who was exonerated that spent 26 years on death row – joining the ranks of 164 human beings that have been exonerated, that have spent time on death row. It’s a racist system. You cannot deny that,’ Newsom said Friday on ‘CBS This Morning.’ ‘It’s a system that is perpetuating inequality. It’s a system that I cannot in good conscience support.’
Supporters say the governor is helping to end a barbaric and racist practice that does not deter crime, but he also faces backlash from families of crime victims.”
The problem with absolving the worst criminal offenders of their death sentences is twofold. The first is this notion that just because studies may show the death penalty doesn’t necessarily deter crime, it must follow that the death penalty is unnecessary, unjust, or even responsible for encouraging crime.
The death penalty’s affect on potential criminals is likely diluted due to the fact that its widely known that even the worst criminal offenders usually sit on death row for decades, going through lengthy appeals processes and receiving an alarming level of sympathy from the mainstream media.
What convoluted individual would think twice about committing a heinous crime with that degree of lukewarm impotence residing in our justice system?
What anti-death penalty activists using this line of rationale fail to realize is that the punishment of death is not only meant to deter individuals from insidiously evil actions. It is about just punishment for those who are directly responsible for another human being losing his or her life.
This isn’t reserved for accidents, manslaughter, or crimes of passion; the death penalty is utilized in situations where individuals clearly intend to kill and premeditate the murder of another.
Fox News sheds light on the “will of the people” by illuminating how California voters feel about the death penalty, as well as top law enforcement officials:
“Despite recent polling indicating that support for the death penalty is at its lowest level since the early 1970s, Newsom’s order still bucks the will of most California residents. California voters previously rejected an initiative to abolish capital punishment in the state and instead, in 2016, voted in favor of Proposition 66 to help speed up executions.
‘Governor Newsom, who supported the failed initiative to end the death penalty in 2006, is usurping the express will of California voters and substituting his personal preferences via this hasty and ill-considered moratorium on the death penalty,’ Michele Hanisee, the president of The Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said in a statement.”
The other issue surrounding the idea of abolishing the death penalty is affect on the family of the victim. While these families have to suffer each day without their loved ones, a world with no death penalty would mean the very murderers of those loved ones get to remain in this world.
Not to mention, Gavin Newsom doesn’t ever come close to proving that the death penalty process is racist.
He relies on the old “racial disparities must mean racism is involved” routine, which is a lazy argument lacking factual basis.
It’s a shame that Democrats, who are supposed to be the party of empathy (among their list of feelings they champion), cannot understand what they are doing to the families of those who are mindlessly slain.
Consider the reactions of families who have lost loved ones to depraved killers in California, who will have to live knowing their murdered family members weren’t shown the mercy that Democrat politicians are stumbling over themselves to grant their murderers:
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