Newsom s AG pick will test California s mood on criminal justice
OAKLAND Becoming California s top cop may have been the easy part. Keeping the job is another story.
Rob Bonta was Gov. Gavin Newsom s choice for state attorney general after eight years as a liberal Democratic state lawmaker. He was celebrated in March by police reformers and Asian American organizations as a groundbreaking pick at a time of social upheaval.
But Bonta has routinely been at odds with law enforcement, who remain powerful in California and could very well back a credible challenger. Whether Bonta survives next year in his first statewide election will be the ultimate test of whether this once tough-on-crime state has truly changed.
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California will see a high-octane showdown over crime and punishment next year as Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert challenges newly appointed Attorney General Rob Bonta, columnist Dan Walters
CALmatters Commentary: Showdown over crime, punishment looms
Dan Walters: CALmatters Commentary
Should California continue to reduce punishment for crimes large and small, or has it gone too far and implicitly allowed criminals to prey upon Californians without fear of imprisonment?
The question has reverberated throughout the state over the past half-decade, ever since former Gov. Jerry Brown lunched a personal crusade to scale back the lock-‘em-up laws that California enacted – including some that he signed – in the 1980s and 1990s.
California voters will answer it next year by either giving newly appointed Attorney General Rob Bonta, a fervent believer in the softer approach to crime, a full term or replacing him with someone with a tougher attitude toward lawbreakers.
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