The bigger question is how many of the attorneys in these firms, and how much, have they donated to Newsom and/or the Democrat Party? How much have they given to Democrat candidates and causes? This is nothing but a transparent pay back.
“According to public disclosures and news reports, California Governor Gavin Newsom received more than $405,000 in legal services from the private law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner, to help him craft the repeal of rules and other actions establishing his death penalty moratorium, by Executive Order in 2019. Now a lawsuit is pending that challenges the Governor’s powers to repeal those rules and dismantle the death chamber at San Quentin, and a second private law firm, Los Angeles-based O’Melveny and Myers, which has received at least $600,000 in state funds representing the Newsom Administration in other cases, is representing Newsom in the lawsuit.”
Is Newsom saying the State of California does not have attorneys that could represent us in court? If so, get rid of the useless attorneys and hire those that can do the job.
James Lacy, 7/2/21
According to public disclosures and news reports, California Governor Gavin Newsom received more than $405,000 in legal services from the private law firm of Boies Schiller Flexner, to help him craft the repeal of rules and other actions establishing his death penalty moratorium, by Executive Order in 2019. Now a lawsuit is pending that challenges the Governor’s powers to repeal those rules and dismantle the death chamber at San Quentin, and a second private law firm, Los Angeles-based O’Melveny and Myers, which has received at least $600,000 in state funds representing the Newsom Administration in other cases, is representing Newsom in the lawsuit.
A fair question to ask, is why isn’t the Attorney General’s office handling the crafting and defense of Newsom’s challenged Executive Order on the death penalty?
A hearing on mutual motions for summary adjudication is scheduled in Sacramento Superior Court, Department 53 for August 4 in the case of Lacy v. Newsom, Case. No. 34-2021-00293349-CU-MC-GDS. The lawsuit seeks a Declaratory Judgment that Newsom unconstitutionally exceeded his authority by disregarding established law in dismantling the death chamber and repealing the state’s lethal injection protocol regulations as part of his death penalty moratorium, and seeks a reversal of those actions.
Californian’s remain generally supportive of the death penalty law according to the most probative recent polling of the issue. Early in June, the national polling firm of McLaughlin and Associates found 49% of Californians would vote No if a constitutional amendment to abolish the death penalty is placed on the ballot in 2022 by the Legislature, while 43.8% would vote Yes. When voters are informed of issues that would be raised during a campaign to repeal the death penalty, opposition to repeal increases to a majority of 53.3% of voters saying No to abolishing California’s death penalty law, and support drops to just 40.5%. See poll results: https://usjf.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CA-Statewide-Executive-Summary-6-8-21-1.pdf
