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SaveCalifornia.com Blog//
Archives for the ‘Ballot’ Category
Sunday, March 17, 2019, 6:11 pm | Randy Thomasson
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Don’t let anyone deceive you about what Governor Gavin Newsom has done to the death penalty. One of SaveCalifornia.com’s jobs is to stand for truth and expose lies. In such a time as this, I hope this information will equip you to stand for what’s right in God’s sight.
When Newsom decreed that he alone could eliminate capital punishment in California, he was wrong before the voters, wrong before the California State Constitution and statutes, wrong before victims and victims’ families, and wrong before Creator God. Here’s why:
1. Newsom is wrong before the voters: In 2016, Californians solidly defeated repealing the death penalty for murderers, and, at the same time, voted to speed up the legal appeals process for convicted murderers, to put them to death instead of forcing taxpayers to coddle them with room, board, and medical care until natural death. The California Constitution explicitly prohibits the State Legislature from changing or repealing initiatives passed by the voters (Article II, Section 10c). Nowhere does the State Constitution permit Governor Newsom to undo the vote of the people, but it specifically states that “The Governor shall see that the law is faithfully executed.” But since when did Newsom care about the vote of the people — on man-woman marriage, or on the death penalty, which he’s been trying to undo for years?
2. Newsom is wrong before the California State Constitution and the California Penal Code: The Governor’s constitutional power to reprieve (delay legal punishment), pardon (declare free from guilt or blame, and set free a convict), or commute (decrease the punishment given to the guilty) is only on an individual, case-by-case basis. Yet Newsom issued a broad “moratorium” on capital punishment, unconstitutionally “reprieving” the death penalty for 737 cold-hearted murderers.
By doing so, Newsom has violated the Constitution’s single-person restriction of Article V, Section 8:
SEC. 8. (a) Subject to application procedures provided by statute, the Governor, on conditions the Governor deems proper, may grant a reprieve, pardon, and commutation, after sentence, except in case of impeachment. The Governor shall report to the Legislature each reprieve, pardon, and commutation granted, stating the pertinent facts and the reasons for granting it. The Governor may not grant a pardon or commutation to a person twice convicted of a felony except on recommendation of the Supreme Court, 4 judges concurring.
Newsom’s so-called “moratorium” — which he declared “shall be instituted in the form of a reprieve for all people sentenced to death in California” — is nowhere in the State Constitution or the State Penal Code. What’s more, Newsom’s blanket “reprieve” violates the California Constitution’s required process for a governor to change the sentence of any convict. Even former Governor Jerry Brown knew there was a process of application by a prison inmate that was required before a governor could grant a pardon or a commutation. Newsom calling his action “a reprieve” is his ‘s apparent attempt to wiggle around the specific processes for pardons of convicts and commutations of sentences.
The rules to be granted a pardon, commutation, or reprieve require that an convicted inmate not eligible for a Certificate of Rehabilitation must apply directly to the California governor’s office, and, if any are granted, the governor’s office must provide the California State Legislature with a report listing all granted pardons and the reasons they were granted. But Newsom disregarded all these laws. Shirking the law, and the reasonable justification that the law requires, he has imposed his personal dislike of the death penalty upon all of California, sending a very clear signal to teenage boys and young men that they indeed can get away with murder. We need a lawsuit against Newsom by victims’ families.
3. Newsom is wrong before victims and victims’ families:
Liberals don’t understand justice, but reasonable people do. People who know there’s still a difference between right and wrong know that if something you own is stolen from you, it must be returned or paid back. This includes money, property, and more. It includes when someone injuries you or leaves you physically disabled. And this “payback,” otherwise known as justice, certainly applies when an innocent person is murdered. This is why some people, who previously opposed the death penalty, support it once a family member is brutally murdered.
In the sentencing phase of murder trials, victims’ family members often have the opportunity to tell a jury about the loss and damage to their family. A book on this explains: “Thus far the most crucial (and the most institutionalized) role for co-victims is to provide testimony during the penalty phase of the trial. The legal community refers to this testimony as victim impact evidence (VIE), which is the only way for murder victims’ families to give information about the victim and tell how the murder has affected them personally.”
Gavin Newsom siding with murderers — essentially making them “the victims” — is deeply hurtful to real victims’ families. Up and down California, parents, siblings, grandparents, and children of murder victims are speaking about the deep pain and renewed agony that Newsom’s unjust act has caused them:
Marc Klaas, father of Polly, who at age 12 was kidnapped and strangled before she could be raped
“He is advocating on behalf of pure evil. He is the champion of the death row inmate in California. Death row is filled with individuals who killed cops, women, babies, children.”
Maria Keever, whose 13-year-old son Charlie and his 9-year-old friend Jonathan were sadistically raped, tortured, and murdered
Keever said the decision disgusted her, and that Erskine got his wish. “That’s what he always wanted,” she said. “He wanted the death penalty off and he got it.”
Cindy Rael, mother of Brandi, who at age 34 was shot to death and then torched with fire
“There is one question I would like to ask the governor: What if it was his daughter who was brutally murdered?”
4. Newsom is wrong before Creator God: The criminal laws we live under are largely based on the Word of God in the Bible. God’s commands of “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” and “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” are the foundation of the Penal Codes of the United States and every state, including California. This why the Moses holding the Ten Commandments is depicted multiple times on the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C.
In a constitutional republic, murder is always wrong; in a pure democracy, it’s not. In our republic of the United States of America, our federal law is strongly against murder:
Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being with malice aforethought. Every murder perpetrated by poison, lying in wait, or any other kind of willful, deliberate, malicious, and premeditated killing; or committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, any arson, escape, murder, kidnapping, treason, espionage, sabotage, aggravated sexual abuse or sexual abuse, child abuse, burglary, or robbery; or perpetrated as part of a pattern or practice of assault or torture against a child or children; or perpetrated from a premeditated design unlawfully and maliciously to effect the death of any human being other than him who is killed, is murder in the first degree. Any other murder is murder in the second degree.
And in murder convictions, federal law commands the death penalty, stating that convicted murderers “shall be sentenced to death.”
In California, the Penal Code likewise condemns murder, stating, “Murder is the unlawful killing of a human being, or a fetus, with malice aforethought.” And the death penalty for murderers is still justified under California law, despite our state law making it optional:
“If the defendant has been found guilty of murder in the first degree, and a special circumstance has been charged and found to be true, or if the defendant may be subject to the death penalty after having been found guilty of violating subdivision (a) of Section 1672 of the Military and Veterans Code or Sections 37, 128, 219, or 4500 of this code, the trier of fact shall determine whether the penalty shall be death or confinement in state prison for a term of life without the possibility of parole.”
These laws requiring or permitting the death penalty for murder are a reflection and application of the pure morality of Creator God’s words in Scripture. The best Bible study I’ve seen on why murderers absolutely lose their right to life is “What does the Bible say about the death penalty?” It shows how “Jesus, Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Hebrews, Revelation, and an angel all give strong support for the death penalty.”
Among the Old Testament passages commanding the death penalty is Genesis 9:5-6:
“Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man. Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed, For in the image of God He made man.”
In Numbers 35:31-33, Creator God makes clear that the death penalty is not optional for murderers:
“Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it.”
In the New Testament, Romans 13:4 makes it clear that good government executes murderers:
“For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
Therefore, Gavin Newsom’s executive order taking the side of murderers is blatantly against the Word of God, which sides with the innocent and the vulnerable. Creator God gave the death penalty so that young men in particular would be afraid of ever murdering anyone and so that an untold number of would-be victims would be protected. God always makes a distinction between the innocent and the guilty, and so should we.
What can we conclude?
Democrat Governor Gavin Newsom has declared himself “king,” and not under the People, the Constitution, or the written statutes.
Governor Newsom has taken the side of murderers, telling young men everywhere that yes, they will get away with murder.
Newsom is at war with Creator God, Who demands justice for bloodguilt by requiring authorities to execute convicted murderers.
It’s ironic that Newsom is siding with murderers (and you’re paying for their room and board and everything else with your taxpayer dollars), while Newsom’s doing everything in his power to kill “unwanted” babies in the womb, who have done no wrong and are completely innocent. Where’s the justice in this?
Ultimately, anyone against the death penalty for murderers doesn’t adequately love innocent human beings. Anyone who says the New Testament is against the death penalty is misinformed. Anyone who voted for Gavin Newsom is now indirectly pro-murderer.
Please share this important information with everyone you can. The People of California must know who’s right, and who’s dead wrong.
In January 2017 Exeter resident Christopher Cheary was sentenced to death for the murder of 3-year-old Sophia Acosta. Her great-grandmother Ruth Williams is now speaking out about the governor’s decision. “I remember her sleeping in my bed and holding my hand. She would say, ‘Nana, I love you.’ Nobody can bring that back but she has the right to have justice.” Williams believes Christopher Cheary does not have the right to live after a jury convicted him of murdering, raping and torturing little Sophia in May of 2011. “That was the closure we had. To see him die was my closure and I would’ve walked to San Quentin… I don’t care – I would’ve walked there to watch it,” she says.
Family of raped and murdered 3-year-old speaks out against death penalty decision
Tags: Randy Thomasson, SaveCalifornia.com Posted in Ballot, California Governor, Gavin Newsom, Good Government, Life, Morality, Public safety, SaveCalifornia.com, Voters | Comments Off on Newsom declares war against victims, voters, the law & God
Friday, November 30, 2018, 11:12 am | Randy Thomasson
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It’s a radical question and I’m “just asking.” But is it time for moral Californians to consider replacing the California Republican Party?
Please understand that I am NOT calling for an immoral political party that is devoid of moral values and socially conservative values. That’s what I’m afraid liberal Republicans like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chad Mayes — and Mayes’ good friend Kristin Olsen — want.
To be clear, I want a political party to belong to that is constitutional and pro-family, and does two new things: 1) expose the chronic problems of California created by the Democrat politicians, 2) articulately explain evidence-based, practical solutions that help responsible Californians and their families.
Over the past few decades, a growing number of California conservatives have already personally left the Republican Party, by registering with the American Independent Party, the Libertarian Party, or as “No Party Preference” or “NPP.”
I’m one of them, since I’m much more constitutional and conservative than the current California Republican Party. You see, many of their elected legislators don’t speak out for, but increasingly vote against, family values.
For example, a growing number of Republicans in Sacramento are voting for (and none are speaking out against) the transsexual, cross-dressing agenda to “advance the cause of [LGBT] equality,” and labeling pro-family opposition as “prejudice and discrimination”:
State Senate: SR 111 text | 6 Republicans voted yes, including Republican Leader Pat Bates
State Assembly: HR 109 text with 5 Republicans coauthoring | 2 Republicans voted yes in committee
The last Republican presidential candidate to win California’s winner-take-all electoral votes was George H.W. Bush in 1988.
The last time that Republicans gained seats in the California State Legislature was 1994, on the coattails of Newt Gingrich’s well-articulated “Contract with America.”
But since then, it’s been downhill for Republicans in Sacramento due to lack of messages that hit home with voters.
Fast forward to 2018. Before Election Day, there were only 25 Republicans in the 80-member State Assembly and 14 Republicans in the 40-member State Senate.
But today, California Republicans are weaker than ever. The November 2018 election handed Republicans losses of 4 Assembly seats, 3 state Senate seats, and 7 U.S. House seats. It’s a new low for the Republican Party in California.
Yes, there was a “blue wave” in California, powered by pro-Democrat unions and bureaucracies, and helped by politically-irrelevant pastors who can’t seem to even remind their congregations to “remember to vote.”
This is a problem that’s motivating me to think deeply, and I hope you’re thinking too.
Not just about “Republican” or “Democrat”
Because, as you know, it’s not just about “Republican” versus “Democrat” seats. It’s about what our elected representatives actually stand for, which determines how they vote, which determines the laws we have to live under. Because values matter.
As a family values leader in California since 1994, I’m grieved about the growing number of Republican officeholders that vote against The Natural Family.
Indeed, several of the California Republicans who were booted out of office in November had voted in favor of the unnatural, unhealthy, unbiblical, tyrannical homosexual-bisexual-transsexual agenda once or more:
Assemblywoman Catharine Baker of Contra Costa County*
State Senator Andy Vidak of Hanford*
Former assemblywoman Young Kim of Fullerton*
State Senator Janet Nguyen of Garden Grove**
Congressman Jeff Denham of Modesto***
Congressman Steve Knight of Palmdale***
These types of Republicans are a turn-off to principled, pro-family voters.
* Do these California Republicans deserve to win or lose?
5 pro-‘LGBTIQ’ Republicans join Democrats to further brainwash schoolchildren
** Nguyen at least twice voted in favor of transsexuality, to “advance the cause of [LGBT] equality,” and saying pro-family opposition was “prejudice and discrimination”
SR 46 text | votes / SB 111 text | votes
*** These are the 24 Republicans who think the Pentagon should pay for transgender surgeries
Republican numbers — and values — are down
In light of the painful reality of Republicans losing seats in California (and abandoning tried-and-true family values), some are calling for a brand-new party to replace the Republican Party in California. I’m open to it as well.
On the one hand, a new conservative party could win on issues without the Republican label. If, for example, it were the “People’s Party” or the “Family Party,” moral or common-sense or conservative voters who’ve been trained to hate “Republican” might just vote for it. I’m thinking about Latinos and blacks who are either Catholic or Protestant churchgoers.
On the other hand, given the likely excesses of Gavin Newsom and the 2/3rds majority Democrats, could the California Republican Party return with strength in 2020? It would require aggressive voter registration efforts and a strong, articulate message from both the Republican Party and from individual Republican candidates.
But the question about the California Republican Party’s viability is a valid one. Before the election, California voter registration numbers had Democrats at 44%, Republicans at 25%, and “No Party Preference” at 27%.
Can Republicans get better and stronger and win in 2020? Or it is time to tip over the game board and “get a new game with a new name”? As I’ve written earlier, California is in a dynamic, the Democrat-union grip can indeed weaken, and liberal policies are ripe for taking down.
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers?
Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
Psalm 94:16
Tags: Randy Thomasson, SaveCalifornia.com Posted in Ballot, California Governor, California Legislature, Christians, Churches, Democrats, Fighting for what's right, Gavin Newsom, Homosexuality, LGBT, Patriotism, Republicans, SaveCalifornia.com, Transsexuality | Comments Off on Is it time to replace the California Republican Party?
Thursday, November 8, 2018, 5:56 pm | Randy Thomasson
![](http://savecalifornia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/FightorFlightgraphic100818.jpg)
SaveCalifornia.com provides this solely for educational purposes
and does not support or oppose candidates for public office
Behavioral experts describe it as freeze, fight, and flight. These are three possible responses — a combination of God-given and environmentally-shaped emotions — that rise up within us when we perceive a danger. The danger may be true or false — but initially, we’re going to either freeze, fight, or take flight.
No matter your initial reaction to the just-concluded Midterm Elections, please join me in fighting. Because when evil dominates, it must be exposed and resisted. God always wants His people to steadfastly defend all that is good, right, and true. I aim to do that — how about you?
Here are 3 important things to know, which matter for your values:
1. Nationally, this election was very good news:
a. In the 100-member United States Senate, the Republicans have increased. They’ve gone from 51 to 52 in number, and could go to 53 if Martha McSally wins in Arizona, and up to 54 if Cindy Hyde-Smith wins Mississippi’s U.S. Senate special election on November 27.
b. The Senate Republicans have become more constitutional. Strong conservatives have replaced wishy-washy Republicans such as Bob Corker, Dean Heller, John McCain (and if Martha McSally pulls it off, Jeff Flake). This principled increase means hundreds of President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees will have no problem being confirmed, despite any grumblings from pro-abortion Republicans Lisa Murkowski of Alaska or Susan Collins of Maine. And given that 85-year-old ACLU anti-religious-freedom, pro-abortion attorney Ruth Bader Ginsburg might be next to depart the nation’s high court, the Senate’s confirmation of yet another constitutionalist/originalist to replace her is imperative.
c. The Democrats’ outrageous personal attack upon U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh backfired. In the Senate battleground states of North Dakota, Indiana, Missouri, West Virginia, and Florida, all the anti-Kavanaugh votes were booted out of office, while pro-Kavanaugh Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia survived).
d. The loss of the U.S. House of Representatives to the Democrats was not as bad as it could have been. What’s more, the final count shows President Trump is more popular than President Obama. This election, Republicans have so far lost 30 House seats, but gained seats in the U.S. Senate. This is much better than Obama fared. As The Daily Signal (Heritage Foundation) reports: “The first midterm election under President Barack Obama in 2010 was a major electoral defeat for Democrats. Republicans gained 63 seats in the House of Representatives and six seats in the Senate while making significant gains in state houses and gubernatorial elections. The balance of power shifted Tuesday night, but not as drastically as Democrats had hoped.”
e. The Democrats winning back the U.S. House wasn’t because evil is too strong, but because Republican leadership was foolish. Moral conservative leaders with decades of wise experience held a post-election news conference to explain that the campaign advice of Kevin McCarthy of Bakersfield, California to run on local rather than national issues failed to energize conservatives. SaveCalifornia.com agrees. Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are all about national issues anyway; they should be teachers and cheerleaders for issues of national importance that capture the public’s attention. Why do Democrats in Congress seem to understand this better than some Republican candidates?
2. SaveCalifornia.com’s mission is still for your cherished family values:
Despite the Democrat politicians’ union-funded grip* upon the State of California, our Campaign for Children and Families has survived three governors already (Gray Davis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown). And with God’s help and yours, we’re committed to survive, expose, and oppose the guaranteed wicked policies of Gavin Newsom that harm individuals and families.
* So far this year, government unions have donated $13.8 million and private unions have donated $20.8 million to Democrat candidates in California: https://bit.ly/2JOMLyN and https://bit.ly/2SU1yfP
Our Campaign for Children and Families promise to you:
a. We’ll keep shining our light for positive truth for children and families
b. We’ll keep exposing the darkness so people who listen will stop being deceived
c. We’ll keep training constitutional patriots to do good in their families and communities
I need to know you want to fight rather than take flight.
Because every loss is an opportunity to learn how to be and do better. And given the myriad of public policy problems caused by California’s ruling Democrats, now is the time to expose them. Please realize that simply running from a problem tends to make us insensitive to love, responsibility, and solutions. Because love doesn’t drop out; it presses in and sacrificially gives.
3. California is in a dynamic and the Democrat-union grip can indeed weaken:
Lastly, I believe California is in a dynamic. Look at history. Communism was dismantled in Eastern Europe because it went against God-given human nature. Likewise, some governorships on the east coast of the U.S. have flipped in the last few years from Democrat to Republican (think Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont).
And this election, a big liberal “environmental group” bond (Prop. 3) went down in California, to the frustration of liberal operatives. What’s more, an anti-establishment, academic reformer, Marshall Tuck, might become California’s state school chief. And we’re just beginning to see union membership dropping since the June 2018 U.S. Supreme Court Janus decision affirming the free-speech right of government employees to not have their money coerced away by power-hungry union bosses. Remember, Liberalism doesn’t work; when pressure is applied, it can indeed break down.
Meanwhile, it’s clear to me that a lot of professing Christians (especially younger adults) and a lot of frustrated conservatives (also the younger ones) don’t vote. I keep meeting them. Now, can you imagine what a well-articulated conservative voter registration drive campaign in communities could do? And what if Christian church denominations held voter registration drives in all their member churches, which then would internally lobby churchgoers to “get out the vote” in the big 2020 presidential election? And what if Campaign for Children and Families received confidential pro-family donations totaling $1 million to powerfully promote your values statewide through cost-effective media buys?
Finally, what if major conservative donors had given the gas tax repeal (Prop. 6) $10 million to show California voters convincing messages like SaveCalifornia.com produced? And what if John Cox had also received $10 million to blanket TV, radio, newspapers, and the internet with months of his ads exposing obvious problems caused by Democrat politicians? We might have a profoundly different Governor-Elect today.
I believe the time to invest in California is now, because liberal policies are ripe for taking down. As famed investor Warren Buffett said, “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful.” This certainly applies to the ruling Democrats’ house of cards. If convincing evidence can be creatively presented, it opens people’s eyes. I’ve seen this happen individually, so why not change minds on a grand scale?
Thank you for reading this and thinking about the dynamic culture we live in and how you, with your faithful, principled stand, can make an impact. Thank you for standing strong for your moral values with SaveCalifornia.com and our ongoing Campaign for Children and Families!
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you;
not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, at the Last Supper
Tags: Children, Randy Thomasson, SaveAmerica.com, SaveCalifornia.com Posted in Abortion, America, Ballot, California Governor, California Legislation, Children, Christians, Churches, Culture, Democrats, Election, Fighting for what's right, Gavin Newsom, Jerry Brown, Jesus Christ, Judges, Patriotism, Religious Freedom, Republicans, SaveAmerica.com, SaveCalifornia.com | Comments Off on Election aftermath: Will California conservatives fight or take flight?
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