Currently, the California Constitution allows the governor, on conditions the governor deems proper, to grant a reprieve, pardon and commutation, after sentence, subject to application procedures provided by statute, according to Assembly Bill 580.

“On March 13, Governor Newsom directly contradicted the will of the people of California by placing on a definite hold on the 737 inmates currently sentenced to death,” said Lackey. “In 2016, California spoke loud and clear by rejecting a plan to repeal the death penalty by decisive margin.”

Lackey added that in order to give “a voice back to the people,” he introduced Assembly Bill 580.

Lackey says that AB 580 could potentially accomplish three objectives:

• Change the amount of time required for the governor to act on an application for commutation of a death sentence from 10 days to 30 days.
• Require the district attorney to notify the family of the victim that the inmate is up for commutation of their sentence 25 days before the governor can act.
• Allow the victim’s family the opportunity to explain why a perpetrator should remain on death row.

“The board (Board of Parole Hearings) will then supply the office of the governor with the recommendation to either approve or deny the application for commutation,” said Lackey.

Lackey says that the people Newsom is working to protect are people like serial killer Robert Rhodes.

“Rhodes kidnapped, raped and tortured 8-year-old Michael Lyons before stabbing him 70 times. The people on death row are not the victims — they are not who the state should be working to protect,” said Lackey. “They’ve abused, they’ve raped, they’ve kidnapped, they’ve tortured and some of them have even murdered their own children.”

AB 580 seeks to empower the families of victims and show “that their loved ones have not been forgotten.”

For more information about Assembly Bill 580, click here.