Equal Justice Society President Lisa Holder and other civil rights leaders and community advocates yesterday urged Governor Newsom to commute all death sentences in California. Clemency California (https://clemencyca.org) organized the event as a powerful call to recognize the urgency of justice for those on death row, people who are disproportionately Black and brown, poor, and often sentenced through processes riddled with racial bias and systemic harm.
KCRA, The Sacramento Bee, Vanguard News Group (see below), and UPI covered the event.
“We are asking the governor to step into leadership in this moment, which is a unique moment to distinguish himself as a true leader, and use the power that he is authorized to use by the state and by the voters of California to commute these death sentences now.” ~ Lisa Holder, president of the Equal Justice Society
For the hundreds in limbo, “It is the opposite of life. It is a living death.” ~ Lisa Holder, President of the Equal Justice Society
“There has never been a full-throated effort to repair the harm or transform the white supremacist narrative on Black criminality. From a racial justice perspective, there is no way to administer the state’s human execution system in a way that is moral or bias-free.” ~ Lisa Holder, President of the Equal Justice Society
In addition to Lisa, the scheduled speakers included: Dorothy Ehrlich, formerly ACLU; Father Mike McBride, LIVE FREE; Michael Mendoza, LatinoJustice; Vincent Pan, Chinese for Affirmative Action; Robert Rooks, One for Justice; Imani Rupert-Gordon, National Center for Lesbian Rights; and Morgan Zamora, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights.
This action spoke to the core of the California reparations movement. Ending the death penalty is one way we begin to address the enduring consequences of slavery, racial terror, and state-sanctioned violence. The work of the California Reparations Task Force, the first of its kind in the country, made this connection clear.
Over two years, the Task Force studied the harms of slavery and its afterlife in California and released a comprehensive set of recommendations in 2023 to repair those harms through policy, investment, and truth-telling.
We can continue building momentum by drawing a clear connection between clemency and reparations and demanding that California take action.
We’re urging individuals and organizations across the state to take a public stance by endorsing the California Reparations Task Force Report. Endorsing the report shows that you believe in a future where justice, healing, and repair are not just possible, but necessary.
Ending the death penalty is a priority bill amongst the Task Force’s 115 reparations bill recommendations. Decarceration and abolition was a guiding principle for the Task Force’s work.
Add your voice and join hundreds of others who have already endorsed the report.
And join Clemency California’s continued efforts to enact universal clemency.