Gavin Newsom in Kamala's Way

On Civil Rights: Took initiative in issuing of same sex marriage licenses

Feb. 12, 2004, was National Freedom To Marry Day, a day in which same sex couples would go to county clerks seeking marriage licenses, be turned away, and then protest. Citing the California constitutional right that grants everyone equal protection, Newsom directed county officials to begin issuing marriage licenses to same sex partners. As word spread, hundreds of couples wearing wedding dresses, tuxedos, and jeans converged on city hall. Newsom had cemented his status as a social justice pioneer. Source: Kamala's Way, by Dan Morain, p.101 Jan 12, 2021

On Crime: Moratorium on death penalty; disassembled death chamber

On March 13, 2019, Governor Newsom called a press conference to announce that he was taking the dramatic step of imposing a moratorium on executions. No one would be executed as long as he was governor. Newsom underscored that order by directing that the death chamber be disassembled, its various parts trucked to a warehouse. At the time, California had 737 condemned inmates.

Newsom's executive order did not abolish the death penalty. Nor did it empty death row. A constitutional amendment making it the law and approved by voters in 1972 remains in place, though it is like a zombie. As of this writing, California has 691 condemned men, and 20 condemned women. Their sentences are in limbo. None will die at the hands of the state so long as Newsom is Governor.

Source: Kamala's Way, by Dan Morain, p. 97 Jan 12, 2021

The above quotations are from Kamala's Way An American Life by Dan Morain. Click here for other excerpts from Kamala's Way An American Life by Dan Morain. Click here for other excerpts by Gavin Newsom. Click here for a profile of Gavin Newsom.
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Page last updated: Oct 09, 2021