DAs and victim’s families protest Newsom’s death penalty moratorium

There was pushback against Governor Gavin Newsom’s death penalty moratorium as family members of victims murdered by people on death row spoke out in Riverside Thursday. It’s all part of a statewide tour to urge the governor to reverse his decision.

This is the second stop on the “Victims of Murder Justice Tour” that will go around the state sharing stories from those family members who have lost their loved ones.

The tour is being organized by orange county district attorney Todd Spitzer who plans on joining prosecutors across the state calling for the end to the death penalty moratorium. Spitzer was joined by Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin on his second stop along with relatives of local murder victims.

Governor Newsom in March announced the death penalty moratorium saying in part it discriminates against the poor, racial minorities and the mentally ill and noted based on studies, one out of 25 people on the state’s death row could be innocent, odds the governor said he couldn’t accept.

Spitzer denounced the governor’s decision calling it “a blanket unlawful order” and urged the governor to instead treat certain debatable cases as clemency requests.

DA Hestrin himself urged Governor Newsom to make an exception for the rape and strangulation murder of Susan Jordan back in 1980.

There are currently 735 inmates on death row in the state and no execution has taken place since 2006 due to litigation in federal court.

Voters approved a measure to speed up capital punishment back in 2016 while defeating a proposal to repeal the death penalty.

A spokesperson for Newsom sent a statement regarding the protest:

“The Governor continues to send his heartfelt condolences to survivor families. These families deserve our state’s respect. The Governor sought out and heard from many survivor families as he was making his decision on the death penalty. Some supported the death penalty while others strongly believed the state shouldn’t take another life in the name of their loved one.”
“As he said when he announced the decision, the Governor decided he couldn’t continue a system that discriminates against defendants who are mentally ill, of color, or can’t afford expensive legal representation. And he couldn’t continue a system where innocent people have been sentenced to death. 164 death row inmates nationally – including 5 in California — were later exonerated for their crimes after being sentenced to death, and the National Academy of Sciences estimates that 1 out of every 25 people sentenced to death in America are wrongfully convicted.”