Fox News reports that one California official has just accused Gov. Gavin Newsom of using the coronavirus to “further” his “political agenda.”
The criticism came from Lisa Smittcamp, the district attorney for Fresno County, California.
Some background
California, like many Democrat-led states, has recently seen a significant increase in crime. The question, of course, is why this is so.
Newsom is one of those Democratic leaders who has been pushing criminal justice reform, and he has been using the coronavirus to do so. Newsom has used fears about the coronavirus spreading through prison populations as an excuse to release supposedly nonviolent state inmates back into society.
“Supposedly” because, as Fox reports, “California’s Judicial Council voted in April to set bail at $0 for certain low-level felonies and misdemeanors in an effort to reduce prison overpopulation amid the COVID-19 crisis. But until last week, people facing gun and gang-related charges also qualified for $0 bail.”
Since prison populations in California have decreased, Newsom has claimed victory, touting his so-called criminal justice reform. However, Smittcamp, among others, isn’t having it.
Not so fast
Smittcamp criticized Newsom’s “criminal justice reform” during a news conference that was held on Thursday.
“Gov. Newsom … claims that declining prison populations is the reason why he’s doing this, and he applauds himself and criminal justice reformers for bringing the numbers down,” she said. “While I’m not an opponent of criminal justice reform, I am an opponent of misinformation and lies.”
Smittcamp continued:
No one states the obvious: that Gov. Newsom ignores the drug-addicted people laying in the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles and all the other cities in California like Fresno while paying attention to how to best protect the inmates from prison and not the cities from crime.
Smittcamp concluded by urging Newsom to “Stop using COVID-19 to further your political agenda,” adding, “The blood of the children being shot by out-of-control gang members in our city is on your hands and on the hands of every person who does not make public safety a priority.”
It’s true
Although what Smittcamp said may seem a bit dramatic, it’s not, and that’s because it is true. Wherever these types of zero-bail policies have been implemented in America, crime has gone up, and innocent members of society have, at times, fallen victim to supposedly non-violent inmates who have been released.
But, if you’re a far-left politician, like Newsom, that doesn’t matter. For such politicians, the people always take a back seat to political ambition. In Newsom’s mind, he’s a criminal justice reformer.
The post County official exposes liberal governor Gavin Newsom first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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