A Southern California lawmaker proposed legislation this week to prohibit any California governor from pardoning an offender or commuting a prison sentence in the final 30 days of the officeholder's term.
The measure comes three weeks after outgoing Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used executive power on his final day in office to reduce the sentence of Esteban Núñez, son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez, from 16 to seven years in prison.
Esteban Núñez had pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon for his involvement in a 2008 San Diego fight that led to the fatal stabbing of college student Luis Dos Santos.
Voters would need to approve Assembly Constitutional Amendment 14 by Assemblyman Jim Silva, R-Huntington Beach. It would void any pardon or commutation made in the final days of the governor's term.
Another GOP Assemblyman, Allan Mansoor of Costa Mesa, previously announced that he would propose a constitutional amendment that would require the governor's office to give 30 days' notice to any victims or prosecutors affected before granting a pardon or sentence commutation. He formally introduced it today as ACA 15.
The family of Dos Santos is suing Schwarzenegger, arguing that his failure to notify them of his plan to reduce Núñez's sentence violated their constitutional rights.
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