His Daughter Was Abducted During a Sleepover and Killed. He Is Among Families Grappling with Newsom’s Death Row Commutation
The move affects 548 inmates and drew criticism from prosecutors and victims’ relatives, who said families were not given advance notice.
- On Thursday, Governor Gavin Newsom commuted the sentences of 548 death row inmates to life in prison without parole, marking the largest mass clemency in American history.
- Victims' families and the California District Attorneys Association criticized the governor for failing to provide advance notice of the decision. Steve Herr, whose son was murdered by a death row inmate, called the move a "cowardly act."
- Orange County District Attorney's Office representative Kimberly Edds called the commutations "a mercy for the wolves while inflicting maximum pain on the sheep." Herr alleged Newsom overruled the jury of 12 people and the court of appeal.
- The California Supreme Court must now review 382 of these cases, as state law requires approval for clemency when inmates were convicted of more than one felony. District attorneys coordinated a response to challenge the commutations.
- Los Angeles County Public Defender Ricardo D. Garcia celebrated the decision as a step toward a fairer system, saying the death penalty is "cruel, irreversible, and stained by systemic racism." California voters, however, rejected prior abolition proposals in 2012 and 2016.
31 Articles
31 Articles
One summer day in 1996, Marc Klaas was sitting in a courtroom in San Jose, holding hands with his relatives, while a court clerk read aloud the guilty verdict that would eventually lead to...
His daughter was abducted during a sleepover and killed. He is among families grappling with Newsom’s death row commutation
By Elizabeth Wolfe, CNN (CNN) — On a summer day in 1996, Marc Klaas sat in a San Jose courtroom and clutched the hands of his family as a clerk read aloud the guilty verdict that would eventually place his 12-year-old daughter Polly’s killer on death row. When the man who had fatally strangled Polly
Palo Alto Online
‘Soul-hurting pain’: Victims’ families enraged at Newsom’s death row decision
This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters. They’ve lived through the worst horrors a family can endure, and they were promised their murdered loved ones would receive justice through an execution. They suffered through years, if not decades, of appeals and hearings where they were forced to hear the stories […]
Hanford Sentinel
Lodinews.comHer son was raped, murdered. California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s death row decision brings ‘soul-hurting pain’
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Among the 548 inmates sentenced to death in California is Robert Rhoades, who abducted 8-year-old Michael Lyons as he walked home from school in Yuba City on May 16, 1996, then tortured and raped him before stabbing…
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