Newell Normand says it never ceases to amaze him how far California will go to be soft on crime. Case in point: The California Racial Justice Act that lets every felon serving time to retroactively challenge their conviction and sentencing on the ground of systemic bias.
"I find it completely outrageous," Normand said. Per the new law, if a defendant can demonstrate that in the past, criminal suspects of their race were arrested, prosecuted or sentenced more often or more severely than members of other racial groups, they'll be entitled to a new trial or sentence.
His guest, author Heather MacDonald, alleged it is a "get out of jail free" card. She added that even if the officer acted correctly and by the book a defendant could challenge their conviction based on an analysis that found bias in the area where they were arrested.
What happens in a case where a Black person is convicted by a Black jury or judge? The systemic bias road is still one they could take to get out of jail, the guest said.
"It is now introducing unequal justice, for sure, because you get to overturn a legal conviction based on you being a particular race," she said.
Normand wondered what the end game is, saying people of all races just want a safe place to live, work and raise their families.
The ACLU of California praised the measure, that passed in 2022, writing in a blog "Those with prior, racially biased convictions and sentences deserve equal justice under the law and have waited long enough.
"We must ensure that everyone is afforded an opportunity to pursue justice by making the Act retroactive. Doing so will affirm our commitment to eliminating the use of race, ethnicity or national origin in seeking or obtaining convictions or sentences."
