User:EmmaCoop/Executive Order N-09-19

Executive Order N-09-19 is an executive order by California Governor Gavin Newsom that establishes an indefinite moratorium on capital punishment in California.

Background
Leading up to the signing of Executive Order N-09-19, there were 737 inmates on death row in California. Newsom's office claimed that more than six in ten inmates awaiting execution in California were of ethnic minorities.

Rationale
In a CBS This Morning interview on March 15, Newsom argued that the death penalty was "a racist system...that is perpetuating inequality. It's a system that I cannot in good conscience support."

Reactions
US President Donald Trump tweeted his opposition to the executive order by writing, "Defying voters, the Governor of California will halt all death penalty executions of 737 stone cold killers. Friends and families of the always forgotten VICTIMS are not thrilled, and neither am I!" Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, stated, "Governor Newsom's courageous decision to announce a moratorium on the death penalty in California is a momentous step for justice that honors the Constitution’s 8th Amendment protect against cruel and unusual punishment." US Senator Kamala Harris, who represents California, said the signing of the moratorium was "an important day for justice and for the state of California."

Alex Padilla, the Secretary of State of California, issued a press release in which he stated, "I commend Governor Newsom for his courage in ordering a moratorium on the death penalty. As difficult as this decision must have been, it is smart and just."

Toni Atkins, the President pro tempore of the California State Senate, said, "Personally, I commend Governor Newsom for having the courage and the conviction to take this important step." California State Senate minority leader Shannon Grove issued a statement in which she recognized that Newsom was "within his authority to exert his executive power to impose a moratorium on the death penalty", but she also stated that "we cannot ignore the pleas from crime victims and their families, and the more than 7.2 million voters who rejected overturning the death penalty." Anthony Rendon, the Speaker of the California State Assembly, voiced support for the moratorium, but stated that his "efforts will be focused elsewhere."

Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, "I'm obviously disgusted. The governor does not have the moral high ground here. He talks about the morality of his decision-making. Well, tell that to the victims of these most heinous crimes committed by California's worst murderers."

Three executive directors of the American Civil Liberties Union of California approved of the executive order by stating, "Governor Newsom's...announcement marks a watershed moment in the fight for racial equity and equal justice for all." Michele Hanisee, the president of the Los Angeles County-based Association of Deputy District Attorneys, said that Newsom "is usurping the express will of California voters and substituting his personal preferences via this hasty and ill-considered moratorium on the death penalty."