OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
A federal judge has blocked a California gun law that Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom said was the decision that he wanted.
“‘It is cynical. ‘It is an abomination.’ ‘It is outrageous and objectionable.’ ‘There is no dispute that it raises serious constitutional questions.’ ‘It is an unprecedented attempt to thwart judicial review,’” U.S. District Court Judge Roger Benitez of the Southern District of California said in his decision, Fox News reported.
The Texas measure makes abortions illegal after a fetal heartbeat can be detected and permits private citizens to sue abortion providers or anyone else who assists in a woman’s procurement of abortion for $10,000. This fee-shifting mechanism was designed to protect the 2021 law from judicial review to circumvent the Supreme Court’s old abortion precedent in Roe v. Wade. The high court has since overturned that precedent, permitting states to restrict, or liberalize, abortion.
Newsom called on the California legislature to enact a similar law for guns days after the Supreme Court ruled than the Texas heartbeat law could remain in effect following a legal challenge.
California’s gun law also creates a private right-of-action for citizens to sue gun manufactures who make “assault weapons and ghost guns” for $10,000. Newsom described the law as virtually identical to the Texas provisions, but Benitez wrote that “California’s law goes even further.” He observed that the gun control statute denies a prevailing plaintiff attorneys fees. Further, Benitez emphasized that only the California measure “applies to laws affecting a clearly enumerated constitutional right set forth in our nation’s founding documents.”
“Whether these distinctions are enough to save the Texas law fee-shifting provision from judicial scrutiny remains to be seen,” the judge said. “And although it would be tempting to comment on it, the Texas law is not before this Court for determination.”
The case is likely to head to the Supreme Court, which is what Newsom wanted.
“I want to thank Judge Benitez. We have been saying all along that Texas’ anti-abortion law is outrageous. Judge Benitez just confirmed it is also unconstitutional,” the governor said. “The provision in California’s law that he struck down is a replica of what Texas did, and his explanation of why this part of SB 1327 unfairly blocks access to the courts applies equally to Texas’ SB 8. There is no longer any doubt that Texas’ cruel anti-abortion law should also be struck down.”
In November an official in President Ronald Reagan’s administration as well as Bush 41 and Bush 43 has laid out a plan in which Democrats could elevate left-wing California Gov. Gavin Newsom to the presidency without him having ever been elected.
In a column for The Hill, consultant Douglas MacKinnon, who was a writer in the White House for Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush as well as a special assistant for policy and communications at the Pentagon during the last three years of the George W. Bush Bush administration, wrote that President Joe Biden could essentially install Newsom, who has been mentioned as a potential 2024 Democratic contender anyway.
After noting that the midterm elections turned out better than expected for Democrats, the fact is, both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris remain underwater in terms of their approval ratings. As such, that leaves the party in a precarious position ahead of the next presidential election now less than two years away.
That reality speaks to the need for a proven vote-getter with lots of money and a logistical machine behind him. In Politics 101, California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) meets — maybe even exceeds — those qualifications.
Newsom won reelection easily and now has the luxury of turning his ambitious eyes completely toward the White House. The question then becomes, will his party turn its eyes toward him as the person who might save it from the Biden-Harris dilemma it is surely about to face?
If the answer is “yes,” the “solution” is really not complicated at all. In one scenario, Biden could ask Harris to resign and replace her with Newsom, who then becomes the heir apparent for 2024. Or Biden could replace Harris with Newsom and then resign himself, making Newsom the president before 2024 and arming him with the full force of the Oval Office.
He went on to say that GOP lawmakers and voters can write off Newsom for having “ruined California,” but he argued that Newsom is nevertheless a formidable political opponent who has lots of connections, ambition, and can drive voters to the polls.
“Might the Democrats leapfrog him into the Oval Office before 2024? It would be political malpractice for them not to consider the option,” MacKinnon concluded.
