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The California Department of Justice has launched an investigation into Governor Gavin Newsom’s office following the leak of emails suggesting hardball tactics were used during negotiations over the reform of Proposition 47, a controversial ballot measure that reduced certain non-violent felonies to misdemeanors.
The leaked emails, obtained by the Los Angeles Times[1], reveal that Newsom’s staff pressured civil rights groups and legal experts to support the governor’s proposed changes to Prop 47, which critics argue would undermine the original intent of the law by expanding the list of offenses that can be charged as felonies.
In one email exchange, a senior aide to Newsom is quoted as saying,
We need your organization to get on board with these reforms, or the governor will have to distance himself from your cause.
The apparent threat caused outrage among criminal justice reform advocates who had previously worked closely with the Newsom administration.
This is a gross abuse of power,
said Aqeela Sherrills, co-founder of the Alliance for Safety and Justice, a non-profit cited in the leaked emails.
The governor’s office was openly trying to strong-arm us into supporting policies that would have reversed years of hard-fought progress on criminal justice reform.
The Justice Department probe comes just weeks after Newsom signed a revised version of the Prop 47 reform package into law amid protests from civil liberties groups. The new legislation, which takes effect in January 2025, adds several offenses, including domestic violence and hate crimes, to the list of crimes that can potentially be charged as felonies rather than misdemeanors.
In a statement, the governor’s office defended the changes as a
balanced approach
that gives judges and prosecutors more discretion while still honoring the spirit of Prop 47’s aim to reduce overcrowded prisons and prioritize rehabilitation over excessive incarceration.
Prop 47 was never intended as a blank check to let dangerous criminals off the hook,
the statement read.
The reforms signed into law ensure public safety while still advancing criminal justice reform.
However, critics like Sherrills argue the revisions gut many of Prop 47’s core provisions by expanding judicial and prosecutorial power.
This represents a massive step backwards,
she said.
It’s shocking that the same administration that campaigned on being progressive champions of reform would so brazenly capitulate to the tough-on-crime lobby.
The Justice Department investigation, which stems from a criminal referral by the State Bureau of Investigation[2], will likely focus on whether Newsom’s staff violated state laws prohibiting bribery, extortion, or other forms of official misconduct related to the Prop 47 negotiations.
Legal experts say a particularly damning piece of evidence could be an email where a Newsom aide appears to dangle financial support and access to the governor as leverage to get a civil rights group’s endorsement of the reforms.
Your organization’s endorsement here would mean a lot and create goodwill that could lead to more funding and closer collaboration with our office down the line,
the email states according to the Times report.
If proven, such an explicit quid pro quo offer of money or influence in exchange for a policy endorsement could potentially constitute multiple felonies under California law.
The Newsom administration has pushed back forcefully, calling the allegations
baseless innuendo
and accusing the Justice Department, led by a Republican attorney general, of playing politics.
With high-stakes criminal charges potentially on the table, the investigation seems poised to cast a harsh spotlight on the opaque world of policy negotiations in Sacramento and could have major political implications heading into Newsom’s expected 2026 re-election campaign.
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