Gavin Newsom is a weathervane, always blowing in whichever wind he thinks will steer his career towards the White House. Note that he could have done this at any time, but just happened to do it...
Gavin Newsom is a weathervane, always blowing in whichever wind he thinks will steer his career towards the White House. Note that he could have done this at any time, but just happened to do it as soon as there was a strong, fresh signal that people want more left-leaning politicians. He has no standards or morals other than "will this help my political career?" Appreciate the act, but recognize that this is not an expression of any actual moral stance on his part. It gives no signals regarding what he'd do in the future if it looked like tacking to the right socially or economically would serve him best.
Agreed. He played to the right for all of the past couple years. As he is angling for the presidency, and as he'll be a major candidate in the Democratic primaries, is behooves everyone to learn...
Agreed. He played to the right for all of the past couple years. As he is angling for the presidency, and as he'll be a major candidate in the Democratic primaries, is behooves everyone to learn about him before his spin campaign builds momentum.
10 years ago California voted on a proposition to abolish the death penalty, and lost. 53% voted to keep the death penalty, while 62% voted for Clinton for president in the same election....
10 years ago California voted on a proposition to abolish the death penalty, and lost. 53% voted to keep the death penalty, while 62% voted for Clinton for president in the same election.
Republicans are constantly attacking Newsom and Democrats in general for being soft on crime in California. I live in a fairly liberal area here, but you should see my Nextdoor feed - anytime any crime happens locally, you get 10s of people chiming in how it's Newsoms and Democrats fault.
The death penalty was effectively on pause in California already for 20 years. There wasn't really a pressing need to commute sentences, as nobody was about to be executed any time soon. Newsom chose to do this after the election, because his term as governor is over. If he did it earlier, it would become an issue and distraction against Bacerra during the election.
I don't know Newsom's state of mind obviously - unfortunately death penalty is still popular both in California and the US as a whole with majority support, although slowly trending lower. Newsom is theoretically doing the moral thing going against the will of the majority here, and at some political cost if he hopes to run for president. I don't really think this will buy him much good will in the progressive wing of the Democratic party, which already hates him anyway. He probably hopes this will be forgotten by 2028 if he runs for president then, although I am sure Republicans will bring it up anyway.
Yep. He did something I agree with (although it sounds like there will be a California Supreme Court review) but he can get fucked and I will not support him in a primary. I think he'd be an awful...
Yep. He did something I agree with (although it sounds like there will be a California Supreme Court review) but he can get fucked and I will not support him in a primary. I think he'd be an awful president.
As a Canadian the idea of a death penalty is barbaric and to me that would have been the easiest decision of my career, but I am not Gavin Newsom. Great news and I hope in the future the entire...
In an open letter to constituents, Newsom said taking this step is “among the most difficult of my career.”
As a Canadian the idea of a death penalty is barbaric and to me that would have been the easiest decision of my career, but I am not Gavin Newsom.
Great news and I hope in the future the entire country can move past this barbarity.
It's difficult because of how many Americans have bloodlust and always want revenge on criminals and will use this against Newsom in a campaign ad. Or even worse, when people find that evidence...
It's difficult because of how many Americans have bloodlust and always want revenge on criminals and will use this against Newsom in a campaign ad. Or even worse, when people find that evidence was falsified and the person was wrongly convicted, but then "leaders" hide their bloodlust behind a veil of "we have to follow the letter of the law." I don't miss arguing against people on reddit about how just because someone was sentenced to death doesn't mean it shouldn't get overturned...
Against. I intended my comment to be playful, but not sarcastic. I think it's a good thing these sentences were commuted; and, given that Newsom's reputation for going where the political wind is...
Against. I intended my comment to be playful, but not sarcastic. I think it's a good thing these sentences were commuted; and, given that Newsom's reputation for going where the political wind is blowing, I think it's very possible that recent election results played a role in his decision here.
548?? That's an absurdly high number to have on death row, makes me wonder what the bar is to get the death sentence there. Has to be pretty low, or the judges there have to be extra vindictive....
548?? That's an absurdly high number to have on death row, makes me wonder what the bar is to get the death sentence there. Has to be pretty low, or the judges there have to be extra vindictive. Or both. That many people on death row has to be a big financial drain since they can't keep them with standard population, and it's been 20 years since the last execution so it's an even bigger drain.
And then the article says there were 561 people on death row... Makes me wonder about who's still on it and why they didn't get pardoned.
Some quick back of the napkin math: Texas death row size: 0.000 0048% California death row size: 0.000 0144% Of the size of the population. Spaces were just to make it more readable. Considering...
Some quick back of the napkin math:
Texas death row size: 0.000 0048%
California death row size: 0.000 0144%
Of the size of the population. Spaces were just to make it more readable.
Considering Texas is still actively executing its death row population and California has not done so since 2006, that seems pretty reasonable.
California numbers for many things look big just because the population is huge.
I'm not one for the death penalty or unnecessary incarceration but there are really bad criminals in California, not sure if you're old enough to remember when gangs ruled a lot of the...
I'm not one for the death penalty or unnecessary incarceration but there are really bad criminals in California, not sure if you're old enough to remember when gangs ruled a lot of the neighborhoods. Killings in cold blood, gang initiations that required new members to murder an innocent person, lots of premeditated murders. A lot of Mexican Mafia activity and such. Remember, a lot of these people on death row committed their crimes decades ago.
Gavin Newsom is a weathervane, always blowing in whichever wind he thinks will steer his career towards the White House. Note that he could have done this at any time, but just happened to do it as soon as there was a strong, fresh signal that people want more left-leaning politicians. He has no standards or morals other than "will this help my political career?" Appreciate the act, but recognize that this is not an expression of any actual moral stance on his part. It gives no signals regarding what he'd do in the future if it looked like tacking to the right socially or economically would serve him best.
Agreed. He played to the right for all of the past couple years. As he is angling for the presidency, and as he'll be a major candidate in the Democratic primaries, is behooves everyone to learn about him before his spin campaign builds momentum.
I was first made aware of his total lack of position from the A Bit Fruity podcast/video, which covers a lot of his recent behavior. Here's a link to that: We All Deserve Better Than Gavin Newsom (with Emma Vigeland and Kat Blaque)
10 years ago California voted on a proposition to abolish the death penalty, and lost. 53% voted to keep the death penalty, while 62% voted for Clinton for president in the same election.
Republicans are constantly attacking Newsom and Democrats in general for being soft on crime in California. I live in a fairly liberal area here, but you should see my Nextdoor feed - anytime any crime happens locally, you get 10s of people chiming in how it's Newsoms and Democrats fault.
The death penalty was effectively on pause in California already for 20 years. There wasn't really a pressing need to commute sentences, as nobody was about to be executed any time soon. Newsom chose to do this after the election, because his term as governor is over. If he did it earlier, it would become an issue and distraction against Bacerra during the election.
I don't know Newsom's state of mind obviously - unfortunately death penalty is still popular both in California and the US as a whole with majority support, although slowly trending lower. Newsom is theoretically doing the moral thing going against the will of the majority here, and at some political cost if he hopes to run for president. I don't really think this will buy him much good will in the progressive wing of the Democratic party, which already hates him anyway. He probably hopes this will be forgotten by 2028 if he runs for president then, although I am sure Republicans will bring it up anyway.
Yep. He did something I agree with (although it sounds like there will be a California Supreme Court review) but he can get fucked and I will not support him in a primary. I think he'd be an awful president.
Even without that context the timing is suspicious. He clearly didn’t want it to effect the election.
As a Canadian the idea of a death penalty is barbaric and to me that would have been the easiest decision of my career, but I am not Gavin Newsom.
Great news and I hope in the future the entire country can move past this barbarity.
It's difficult because of how many Americans have bloodlust and always want revenge on criminals and will use this against Newsom in a campaign ad. Or even worse, when people find that evidence was falsified and the person was wrongly convicted, but then "leaders" hide their bloodlust behind a veil of "we have to follow the letter of the law." I don't miss arguing against people on reddit about how just because someone was sentenced to death doesn't mean it shouldn't get overturned...
Woke is back, baby!
Are you for or against the death penalty? Maybe somewhere in between?
Against. I intended my comment to be playful, but not sarcastic. I think it's a good thing these sentences were commuted; and, given that Newsom's reputation for going where the political wind is blowing, I think it's very possible that recent election results played a role in his decision here.
548?? That's an absurdly high number to have on death row, makes me wonder what the bar is to get the death sentence there. Has to be pretty low, or the judges there have to be extra vindictive. Or both. That many people on death row has to be a big financial drain since they can't keep them with standard population, and it's been 20 years since the last execution so it's an even bigger drain.
And then the article says there were 561 people on death row... Makes me wonder about who's still on it and why they didn't get pardoned.
Some quick back of the napkin math:
Texas death row size: 0.000 0048%
California death row size: 0.000 0144%
Of the size of the population. Spaces were just to make it more readable.
Considering Texas is still actively executing its death row population and California has not done so since 2006, that seems pretty reasonable.
California numbers for many things look big just because the population is huge.
Plus Death Row Records might be included by clerical error.
I'm not one for the death penalty or unnecessary incarceration but there are really bad criminals in California, not sure if you're old enough to remember when gangs ruled a lot of the neighborhoods. Killings in cold blood, gang initiations that required new members to murder an innocent person, lots of premeditated murders. A lot of Mexican Mafia activity and such. Remember, a lot of these people on death row committed their crimes decades ago.