The clash over infant sex crimes reveals a break within CA DEMS

From And WaltersCalmness

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

Reliable political axiom – at least in California – is that when a party reaches the domination of an arena, it is fragmented in factions defined by ideology, gender, economy, ethnicity, geography or even personality. The axiom has been demonstrated locally for decades, with the eternal struggle among the dominant Democrats of San Francisco or the ongoing cassation among Republicans when they controlled Orange County.

The Democrats have achieved absolute domination in state policy in the last quarter century, occupying all state services and capturing the super masters in the legislature and within the state delegation of Congress.

One may think that such a hegemony would manifest in extensive reactions to the most common problems in California, such as homelessness, poverty, water supply, wild fires and a shortage of housing – especially after Gavin Newpom became governor of promise to seek “big, cosmic goals.”

It shouldn’t be. The problems that struck California when Newsom took office in 2019 are just as great as always, reflecting not only their complexity but also the tendency of the dominant party to become a collection of often hostile quasiparties.

Disconnection has appeared many times, but what happened to the legislation on the destruction of sexual crimes against children is a great example.

Two years ago, state Seni. Shannon Grove, Republican by Bakersfield, wore legislation This would add human trafficking by a minor to the state list of serious crimes, thus qualifying an offender for more stringent penalties. The Democrats stopped the bill that opposed the criminal justice reform groups. But when reporters asked Newsom about it, he intervened, essentially forcing the legislature to convey itS

Last year, Grove has again taken the issue of legislation that will increase penalties for anyone who requests sex from a minor, but the Democrats insist that they will not apply if the minor is 16 or 17 years old. The gay rights advocates have asked for what is called “carving”, claiming that the inclusion of older teenagers can cause a return reaction if the law is used to punish the consent of relations.

Grove rudely accepted the amendment as the cost of approval of the measure, but the question was again joined this year by a bill transferred by the Assembly Maggie CrelDemocrat from Sacramento, who was a prosecutor of sexual crime.

Credo would eliminate the caring of 16 and 17-year casualties, but in the replay of the previous year, colleagues Democrats in the Committee on Public Safety of the Assembly made this provision of the bill, which led to a Public disputes on the floor of the installation last week.

Republicans tried to restore the original purpose of the bill and Crel supported the effort, saying “We have to say, strongly and clearly that if you are under 18, a child, a minor … The person who buys that person should be accused of crime. It’s simple and simple, sex without consent.”

She took voice support from some other Democrats, but a speaker speaker Robert Rivas He defeated the efforts and punished Crel by downloading his name from the bill and inserting a phrase announcing the intention to deal with the issue later.

“No one in the room is wrong with the minors sold for sex,” Rivas said. “This is a nuanced question and conversation.”

However, this is not the end because NEWSOM again entered the debateS

“The law must treat all sexual predators that require minors – as a crime, regardless of the age of the victim,” Newsom said in a statement. “Complete stop.”

The image that comes out of this dust is that of a Democratic Party at war in itself, with Rivas trying to be “Ayatol”, as former speaker Willie Brown has described himself, and Newsom distanced himself from his party’s left -wing trends as a prelude to run for president in 2028.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.