March 25, 2020
California Federation of Republican Women
Sue Blair, President
By Allison Olsen, CFRW Advocate
Governor Newsom’s Emergency Response
Governor Newsom has written a letter to President Trump, asking for healthcare aid to California this past week. The Governor projects that over half of California, 25 million people, will be infected with COVID-19 in the next eight week period. Governor Newsom went so far as to ask President Trump for the use of a Navy hospital ship for a triage center- just in case. Governor Newsom has also stated that the use of Martial Law is not off the table in his response to the spread of the virus and he has already put the National Guard in California on notice. Unfortunately, the Governor’s response to Californians as teetered between alarmist and prudent. Californian’s deserve clear instructions in regards to the “shelter-in-place” without our Constitutional rights (both state and Federal) being manipulated. We urge the Governor to continue with Californian’s best health and safety interests at heart and resist the urge to play partisan politics in the time of crisis.
CA Inmates Released
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and 40 other inmate advocacy groups have called on Governor Newsom to release inmates in California to allow other inmates to properly “social distance” in our jails and prisons. This came out in light of 1 inmate and 5 corrections employees testing positive for COVID-19. The advocacy groups are urging the Governor to release all medically fragile inmates, those 60 years of age and older, and all those set to be paroled through the next year. It has been reported that hundreds of inmates have already been released in San Francisco county, Los Angeles County, among others. Governor Newsom claimed in a statement that ” We will do it in a very deliberative way, and to the extend we have to have a release valve… it will be for those nonviolent offenses and we will do it in a systemic way and we are working in real time with our sheriffs to see what that looks like, and with the folks at the state system.” But, as you will recall, Prop 57 redefined what a “nonviolent” offender is. Domestic violence, solicitation of murder, human trafficking, rape of an unconscious person have all been reclassified as “serious” and not “violent.” Again, we must insist the Governor act with the safety of ALL Californians in mind.
A Message from the CFRW President
CFRW President Sue Blair recorded a message for our Republican Women’s Federated clubs about what we can do for our clubs, for our candidates, and for our communities during these uncertain times. If you missed it, you can view the video below.
Due to the circumstances under which we are living, the June CFRW Conference has been pushed out to an unknown date. We will keep you informed.
