On November 5, Governor Gavin Newsom let every killer on California's death row off the hook. All 548 of them. With one letter, he wiped out the death sentences of the men who murdered eight-year-old Gabriel Fernandez and twelve-year-old Polly Klaas, along with every other condemned murderer in the state.

He did not review the cases one by one. He did not propose a single reform. He did not ask the Legislature, the courts, or the voters. He acted alone, and he did it so he could pitch himself to the far left of his party.

My name is Gloria Romero. I served twelve years in the California Legislature and was the first woman to serve as Majority Leader of the State Senate. I represented East Los Angeles and the eastside of LA County.I am a former Democrat who walked away from my party and joined the Republican Party. 

Today, I am asking the California Supreme Court to stop his abuse of power

I know this system from the inside. As a Senator, I oversaw reform of California's prisons. I fought to bring rehabilitation back into a system that had abandoned it. I did that work because I believed the system needed fixing, though through hearings, evidence, and law. 

I also know the impact that violent crime can have. In 1995 I survived a violent carjacking in Los Angeles. The man who assaulted me and my young daughter threatened to "blow your brains out, bitch," and he did so while he was out on parole. No one should ever have to fight for their life.

The people of California support the death penalty. They said so in 2012. They said so again in 2016, and in the same election they voted to speed it up. Every one of these 548 sentences came from a jury of Californians who heard the evidence and a judge who reviewed it. Many were upheld by this Court. 

I am Catholic, and I personally oppose the death penalty. I may disagree with the death penalty, but I respect the people of California and the rule of law. Gavin Newsom does not. He calls this morality, but there is nothing moral about a politician overruling twelve jurors and millions of voters to appease the wave of Democratic Socialists coming into office across the country. 

I am doing this in the name of Gabriel Fernandez, a little 8-year-old boy in Los Angeles County who was beaten and starved to death by his mother and her boyfriend. I am doing this in the name of Polly Klaas, taken from her bedroom and murdered. She would be 45 today. 

Under California's Constitution, the Governor cannot commute the sentence of anyone twice convicted of a felony without the approval of four justices of this Court. Many of the men on Death Row fit that description. He had eight years to fix the system. He chose to leave it worse than he found it. In 2019 he halted every execution in California. Now he has erased every sentence. That’s not fixing the system. That’s overruling the people of California, who voted to keep the death penalty twice and voted to speed it up.

I am asking the California Supreme Court to reject every commutation that requires its approval. I am asking Governor Newsom to explain to Gabriel's family and Polly's family why his delusional political ambitions mattered more than their children. 

You do not have to support the death penalty to sign this petition. I don't. You only have to believe that juries, voters, and victims count for more than one politician's next campaign.

Sen. Gloria Romero, (Ret.)
Former Majority Leader, California State Senate