A civil rights group asserts that the California family whose son was stabbed to death may have a case against the state's former governor, who is accused of violating state law.
Though recognizing that Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) decision to reduce the jail sentence of Esteban Núñez, a political colleague's son, was "distasteful," Sacramento Superior Court Judge Lloyd G. Connelly says the former California governor's move will stand. He upholds Schwarzenegger's power to make decisions outside the "normal criminal justice process," saying the power to commute a sentence is a "discretionary right."
"We have a system of laws, and if the governor followed the law, that's fine," notes Robert Knight of The American Civil Rights Union. "Not everybody has to agree with his decisions, but if he violated the law, then that's wrong, and the victim's family has a case. And if they do have that case, they should be bringing it to the next level of jurisprudence to obtain justice."
Schwarzenegger cut down Núñez 16-year sentence for voluntary manslaughter to seven years. Attorneys for the victim's family claim the former governor broke state law by not notifying the family ten days before the commutation.