Written by Andrew Morris
A formal declaration was made Thursday by Governor Gavin Newsom which vetoed the release of Sirhan Sirhan, late Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin back in 1968.
The veto comes in light of proceedings for Sirhan’s release. After 53 years in prison, the perpetrator has appealed 15 other times, gaining no headway.
According to Newsom, Sirhan—now aged 77—still poses a significant threat to public safety.
“Mr. Sirhan’s assassination of Senator Kennedy is among the most notorious crimes in American history,” Newsom wrote. “After decades in prison, he has failed to address the deficiencies that led him to assassinate Senator Kennedy. Mr. Sirhan lacks the insight that would prevent him from making the same types of dangerous decisions he made in the past.”
Sirhan’s next hearing is scheduled for February of 2023, and according to his defense attorney, Angela Berry,
“We fully expect that judicial review of the governor’s decision will show that the governor got it wrong,” she said.
California’s state laws contend that in the case of reasonable doubt of public safety risk, an inmate should not be released upon the population.
Berry states however, that “not an iota of evidence exists to suggest Mr. Sirhan is still a danger to society.”
This decision stands as Newsom’s greatest achievement in the recent years of his term, as releasing an assassin, a terrorist, and a psychopath into an already crumbling state would make about as much sense as putting an armed ex-Nazi in Poland.
Photo Cred: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, via Associated Press
