桃子视频

SACRAMENTO 鈥� California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today that he was moving to commute all death sentences in California, marking a historic step towards ending the death penalty in California and across the country. The 桃子视频, 桃子视频of Southern California, 桃子视频of Northern California, 桃子视频of San Diego & Imperial Counties, and 桃子视频California Action joined the hundreds of organizations and individuals urging the Gov. Newsom to take this necessary step to address the persistent and systemic flaws with the death penalty in California. Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the 桃子视频, issued the following statement: 鈥淭oday, Gov. Newsom made history by announcing his intention to commute every death sentence in California and clear the largest death row in the nation. In doing so, he honored his commitment to end a system that conflicts with human dignity, fairness, and the values enshrined in our Constitution. 鈥淭hese commutations reflect what justice demands: an end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long. By taking this step, Gov. Newsom has affirmed that the death penalty has no place in California and he showed real courage by confronting racialized injustice head-on. 鈥淭he evidence against the death penalty has been overwhelming for decades. As the 桃子视频and allies have documented in courts across the country, a person鈥檚 risk of execution is predictable, but for all the wrong reasons: race, geography, and politics. Such profound, systemic injustice demands a systemic response. Today, California comes closer to closing the chapter on a cruel and morally and legally corrupt practice and sets a powerful example for others to follow.鈥� Gov. Newsom鈥檚 announcement comes amid ongoing legal challenges to California鈥檚 death penalty system. In April 2024, the ACLU, alongside the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Office of the State Public Defender, brought a lawsuit challenging the state鈥檚 death penalty statute as racially discriminatory and unconstitutional under the Equal Protection guarantees of the California Constitution. The evidence presented in that lawsuit revealed pervasive racial bias in California鈥檚 implementation of the death penalty. Black people are up to eight times more likely to be sentenced to death when compared to similarly situated non-Black defendants, while Latino people are at least six times more likely to be sentenced to death. Under California law, the governor has the unilateral authority to commute death sentences in cases without additional felony convictions. For cases involving additional felony convictions, the governor鈥檚 commutation request now goes to the California Supreme Court for review and approval. Additional statements below are from 桃子视频affiliates in California: Abdi Soltani, executive director of the 桃子视频of Northern California: 鈥淭he death penalty has no place in California 鈥� or any society that values justice, fairness, and human rights. Our organization has fought for decades against this antiquated, inhumane system, and we applaud the governor for taking bold action to end it.鈥� Chandra Bhatnagar, executive director of the 桃子视频of Southern California: 鈥淔rom its inception, California has imposed the death penalty in a racially discriminatory manner, creating a two-tiered system of justice. With this historic act of clemency, the state can turn the page 鈥� rejecting a broken, biased system and embracing a more just and equitable future for all.鈥� Norma Ch谩vez-Peterson, executive director of the 桃子视频of San Diego & Imperial Counties: 鈥淪ystemic injustices call for systemic solutions. By granting universal clemency to all people with death sentences in California, Governor Newsom has joined a chorus of leaders nationwide who have rejected the death penalty and recognized it as a failed and unjust experiment. This isn鈥檛 about individual cases, it is about addressing a system that is racist, fundamentally flawed, ineffective, and unfixable.鈥�

RIVERSIDE 鈥� The 桃子视频and 桃子视频of Southern California presented expert testimony last week proving that Black and Latine defendants are far more likely than their white counterparts to face capital charges in Riverside County in the state鈥檚 first evidentiary hearing in a capital case under California鈥檚 Racial Justice Act (CRJA). The CRJA, passed in 2020, prohibits the state from pursuing convictions or sentences based on a person鈥檚 race, ethnicity, or national origin. The law allows individuals to challenge racial bias in their cases by demonstrating a trend of racial disparities in the places they were sentenced, without having to prove intentional discrimination. Throughout the week, six expert witnesses presented evidence of a historical and ongoing pattern of racial discrimination in Riverside County’s pursuit of the death penalty, including studies that show that: Black and Latine defendants are far more likely to face capital charges in Riverside County than white defendants accused of the same crimes. During District Attorney Mike Hestrin鈥檚 term, the office sought the death penalty against Black and Latine defendants at nearly twice the rate it did against white defendants. The odds that the District Attorney鈥檚 Office would file a death notice against a Black defendant were 7.31 times greater than the odds that it would for a white defendant. For Latine defendants, the odds were 3.86 times those for white defendants. 鈥淭he facts here speak for themselves. Riverside County has a clear pattern of discriminating against Black and Latine individuals when it comes to the death penalty,鈥� said Cassandra Stubbs, director of the ACLU’s Capital Punishment Project. “California passed the Racial Justice Act to confront racial bias in the criminal legal system and ensure that a person鈥檚 race does not determine their fate. The court should uphold that promise and take the death penalty off the table in this case. Racial disparities in Riverside County’s application of the death penalty have broader implications for the state. From 2015 to 2019, the county accounted for more than one third of California鈥檚 new death sentences despite only representing 6% of the state鈥檚 overall population. 鈥淩ace must not be a factor in whether someone faces the death penalty,鈥� said Summer Lacey, director of criminal justice and police practices at the 桃子视频Foundation of Southern California. 鈥淩iverside County accounts for a disproportionate amount of death penalty sentences in our state and the racial disparities in the Riverside District Attorney鈥檚 Office鈥檚 decision to seek death are plain and clear.鈥�

NEW YORK 鈥� Yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Pentagon was planning to livestream the firing squad execution of former Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan for the killing of 13 people in a 2009 shooting at Fort Hood. The execution would be the military鈥檚 first execution in more than six decades. Yasmin Cader, deputy executive director at the 桃子视频, had the following statement: 鈥淭he death penalty is cruel, immoral, and does nothing to advance public safety. Turning an execution into a public spectacle only exposes that cruelty and violence. Instead of moving us towards a world that is leaving this barbaric practice behind as the American public increasingly wants, the Trump administration plans to make entertainment out of this shameful practice. Authoritarian and extremist governments use public displays of violence to project a false sense of power. That is not who we are. Enough is enough. We must end the death penalty once and for all.鈥�

The 桃子视频could have its busiest Supreme Court term ever, with potential cases on immigration, voting rights, and religious freedom in schools.