Is it appropriate for a Gilroy City Councilmember to be on NextDoor’s Review Team, deciding which posts should be removed? My NextDoor survey found 94% of 155 respondents opposed the idea. My post was then removed by the Review Team.
NextDoor allows local political discussions, but my post urging the community to ask Assemblymember Rivas to vote NO on SB 94 was taken down. I expressed concern about councilmembers endorsing a Senate candidate who authored a bill allowing parole for those convicted of heinous crimes. I encouraged residents to oppose SB 94 and reconsider their votes for these councilmembers in the upcoming election. It read:
“What do Gilroy City Council Members Zach Hilton, Rebeca Armendariz and Fred Tovar all have in common? They are all endorsing for reelection a California State Senate candidate who wrote a bill to give murderers, rapists and others convicted of crimes so horrific and heinous that they were sentenced to LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE a chance for freedom.”
SB 94, authored by Senator Dave Cortese (D-Santa Clara) initially stated that those “individuals convicted of murder, even with special circumstances up to and including multiple victims, or killed in concert with rape, robbery kidnapping or torture and who received a Death Sentence or Life without the Possibly of Parole prior to June 5, 1990 – be given the opportunity to be provided with a public defender to petition the courts for re-sentencing, which would then allow them to have their sentences invalidated and make them eligible for parole.”
It was shelved last year but recently reenacted and passed on the California State Senate floor. Although Cortese later amended it by dropping the opportunity for Death Row inmates, it is important to note that Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen is currently working hard to resentence individuals on Death Row to Life Without Parole, which means they too would be eligible as long as they didn’t kill a police officer or murder more than two people.
As a California citizen, is this what you want? Here is what Johnathan Hatami, LA Deputy District Attorney, had to say about it:
“Imagine someone breaks into your home and, during the course of the burglary, murders your child. Imagine that person was caught, legally and justly convicted in a court of law, sentenced to life without parole, and exhausted all their appeals. Now imagine you were somehow able to go on living knowing that this murderer will never be released from prison.
“Well, the CA Legislature has just revived SB-94, which allows some convicted murderers who received life without the possibility of parole sentences and served over 25 years to now be considered for release if they petition the court.
“Now imagine how that mom or dad feels after hearing that.
“A victim never chooses to be a victim. A defendant makes a choice. There is a complete lack of empathy by many in our current CA legislature when it comes to victims and the families of victims. It’s really unjust and unfair.
“I don’t think I’ll ever understand why some of our politicians fight so hard to help the criminal, even if that person is a murderer, but can care less about a child victim or that child’s family. Anyone living in California should really ask their elected state legislators how they are going to vote on SB-94.”
If you live in Gilroy, please contact Assemblymember Rivas and tell him to vote NO on SB-94. This bill does not make California safer; on the contrary, it will make our state less safe.
If you strongly oppose SB 94, as I do, I also caution people from voting for any local city council members who align themselves with politicians, like Senator Cortese, who create such, in my mind, dangerous legislation. If Hilton, Armendariz or Tovar have strong feelings of opposition to SB-94, I strongly plead with them to utilize their political clout, denounce this bill specifically, and consider pulling their endorsements for Cortese.
Despite following NextDoor’s guidelines, my post was deleted by the Review Team raising concerns about a council member using this power to suppress dissenting opinions. Should a council member have this authority? If you value free speech, let it influence your vote.
Cheryl Parks
Gilroy
