Suit seeks to nullify Schwarzenegger commutation

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press

Suit seeks to nullify Schwarzenegger commutation
By JULIE WATSON | Associated Press • Published May 11, 2011

SAN DIEGO – The San Diego County district attorney's office is filing a civil lawsuit that seeks to nullify Arnold Schwarzenegger's commutation of a prison sentence for a political ally's son shortly before his term as California governor ended in January.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told reporters Wednesday that the lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind in the nation.

A day before his gubernatorial term ended, Schwarzenegger reduced from 16 years to seven the sentence given to Esteban Nunez, son of former California Assembly speaker Fabian Nunez.

The younger Nunez had pleaded guilty in the 2008 stabbing death of a San Diego college student, 22-year-old Luis Santos.

The lawsuit names current Gov. Jerry Brown, the director of the state Department of Corrections, a state prison warden and Esteban Nunez.




Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/05/11/1648268/suit-seeks-to-nullify-schwarzenegger.html

[former9thward]

1. No legal basis for this.

A governor has full power, for any reason at all, under the state Constitution to pardon. Just as the President has under the U.S. Constitution. The San Diego DA must be running for some office and wants some publicity.

[jaysunb]

3. +1

n/t

[Throd]

8. The pardon might be legal, but it sure isn't right.

[lunatica]

14. That power should be taken away even from the President

I've never understood why such an arbitrary power is even allowed. The reasons are not anywhere close to being based on new evidence or any reasoning whatsoever as to the possible innocense of the person. It's just who can get to the person in power better.

[former9thward]

17. It was put in the Constitution because the King of England had that power.

When we rebelled against England we did not rebel against their form of government just their control. Much of our legal system and form of government is copied from the English.

[Xithras]

18. Nope. The California constitution imposes requirements on prisoner releases & pardons.

Marsy's Law was passed by voters in 2008 and is now part of the state constitution. Governors don't have the authority to contravene any part of the state constitution, so any pardons they issue have to abide by its limits.

Marsy's Law (formally the Victim's Bill of Rights Act of 2008) includes a requirement that victims and their families be notified ahead of time of any post-conviction release decisions, and that they be afforded a chance to address whatever authority is making that release decision.

In order for a California governor to pardon someone, he/she is now required to notify the victims or their families first and give them an opportunity to voice their opinions. It appears that the gropehfurher didn't follow the rules, which may make the pardon illegal.

[Selatius]

2. Esteban Nunez only got 16 years for murder? Does that strike anyone as odd?

Drug dealers could get more years than that.

[sarcasmo]

4. This country has a two tier legal system. Those who have money and know power

and the rest of us.

[The Backlash Cometh]

5. I think the article explains it.

The daddy of the murderer is more politically connected than the daddy of the kid who was murdered.

[alp227]

6. DA Dumanis better WIN this one!

Dumanis, a Republican, is also the first openly gay DA in America too. If checks and balances shall prevail, the judicial system should be able to reverse this horrendous, crony-istic decision.

[coalition_unwilling]

19. How can any gay still be a Repuke? Don't gays understand that

Repukes would like nothing better than to see them rounded up and put in re-education camps or, as one Republic-Nazi said to me, burned to death. When I pushed back at him, he said he was 'joking.' But I don't think so.

Gays voting for Repukes is like Jews voting for Hitler. (Alright, there may have been one or two who did, but not very many.)

[PatrynXX]

7. one of the dumber things Arnold did

now if only we could get Leonard Peltier out.

[Lasher]

9. We need a Constitutional Amendment to ban pardons.

The privelege is being abused, particularly at the national level.

[alp227]

10. but Article 2 Section 2 allows for pardons

"The President...shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment."

http://www.usconstitution.net/xconst_A2Sec2.html

Pardons have angered both liberals and conservatives, such as Clinton pardoning his former business buddy Marc Rich or GW Bush pardoning Scooter Libby. On the other hand, GW Bush commuted the drug smuggling prison sentence for rapper John Forte (and rappers are down with Republican presidents?) And then Gerald Ford used this Constitutional power to pardon Richard Nixon, who resigned to avoid impeachment (in which case a future president would NOT be able to pardon Nixon).

And Obama has pardoned 9 people convicted of drug crimes or in one case conspiring to perjure the FDA.

[RantinRavin]

13. You need to check your facts

Bush never pardoned Libby.

[melm00se]

11. that would remove

the final possibility for justice being done.

there are legitimate reasons for the chief executive to have this power.

[sendero]

12. Except..

... that they almost NEVER use it for legitimate reasons.

[slackmaster]

16. Gerald Ford offered amnesty to about 50,000 Vietnam-era draft dodgers.

William McKinley pardoned a prominent atheist who had been convicted of blasphemy.

Jimmy Carter pardoned Peter Yarrow and Patricia Hearst.

[coalition_unwilling]

20. Are you sure it was Ford? I could swear it was Carter who offered

amnesty. Ford, IIRC, got a tremendous amount of grief for his pardon of Nixon but no cooresponding pardons for Vietnam-era draft evaders.

I can double-check this myself, but thought you might have readier access to materials.

[Judi Lynn]

15. Arnold Pardoned My Son’s Attacker

Arnold Pardoned My Son’s Attacker
by Bruce Henderson
May 11, 2011 | 5:09pm TwitterEmail

San Diego’s D.A. filed suit tonight to void Schwarzenegger’s commutation of the murder sentence of a political ally’s kid. Bruce Henderson remembers the night his son was almost killed.

San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis today filed a civil lawsuit seeking to nullify ex-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's controversial commutation of the prison sentence of the son of a political ally, former state assembly speaker Fabian Nunez.

http://www.tdbimg.com.nyud.net:8090/files/2011/05/11/img-article---henderson-nunez_170735588699.jpg

In 2007, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and former Assembly Speaker
Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, joked around before a legislative group
portrait session. (Rich Pedroncelli, File / AP Photo)
Flanked by victims and their families, Dumanis announced the unprecedented action at a press conference minutes after it had been filed in superior court. The lawsuit to reinstate the 16-year sentence of Esteban Nunez for his role in the 2008 assault that resulted in the death of Luis Santos and serious injuries to several other college students is believed to be the first in the nation filed by a D.A. to overturn a governor's commutation.

As the father of one of the victims, I attended the press conference and reflected on the events that led us here.

More:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-05-11/arnold-pardoned-my-sons-attacker-schwarzeneggers-commutation-of-fabian-nunezs-son#