Angered by the U.S. Supreme Court decision to continue allowing private citizens to sue Texas abortion providers, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California called for a similar law giving ordinary residents legal standing to file lawsuits against purveyors of restricted firearms, reported The New York Times.
“SCOTUS is letting private citizens in Texas sue to
stop abortion?!” Mr. Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted. “If that’s the precedent, then we’ll let
Californians sue those who put ghost guns and assault weapons on our streets.
If TX can ban abortion and endanger lives, CA can ban deadly weapons of war and
save lives.”
The governor’s response seemed to contradict his
earlier criticism of the Texas law, which Mr. Newsom had previously described
as a cynical attempt to undercut federal rights.
In a statement released on Saturday evening, Mr.
Newsom said he had instructed his staff to work with California’s Legislature
and attorney general to write a bill that would let citizens sue anyone who
“manufactures, distributes, or sells an assault weapon or ghost gun kit or
parts” in California. The governor called for damages of at least $10,000 per
violation, plus costs and attorney’s fees.
“If the most
efficient way to keep these devastating weapons off our streets is to add the
threat of private lawsuits, we should do just that,” Mr. Newsom said in the
statement.
The governor’s response seemed to explicitly
position California opposite Texas in the divisive battles over abortion rights
and gun control — and to position him personally on a national front in the
culture wars.
Only three months ago, Mr. Newsom was locked in
a bruising, Republican-led recall battle, which he beat back
soundly. Relatively secure now in his prospects for re-election, the governor
has increasingly raised his national profile. He has undertaken a national book
tour to promote a children’s book he has written on dyslexia, a lifelong
challenge. And as tornadoes swept through Southeastern states, leaving a path
of devastation, Mr. Newsom publicly offered assistance to states such as
Kentucky, deploying specialized urban search and rescue resources.
The governor’s vow to use California courts against
gun violence followed the Supreme Court’s decision on Friday to let stand Texas’ ban on most abortions. The law allows private citizens to
sue anyone who “aids or abets” an abortion performed after a fetal heartbeat
can be detected. That development typically occurs around six weeks and often
before women realize they are pregnant.
Supporters of abortion rights have criticized Texas for
drafting its abortion ban to evade review in federal court, where it might be
blocked. It effectively deputizes ordinary citizens, including those outside
Texas, to sue clinics and others who violate the ban, awarding them at least
$10,000 per illegal abortion if they are successful.
In a 5-4 decision led by the conservative majority,
the Supreme Court ruled that abortion clinics could sue the state’s licensing
officials to halt the new law, but could not sue state court judges, court
clerks or the state attorney general. Otherwise, the court allowed the law, in
effect since September, to stand.
As the Supreme Court has signaled that it might
overturn Roe v. Wade, California political leaders have said they will work
to make the state a refuge for women in parts of the country
where abortion could be outlawed. Mr. Newsom’s response seemed to fulfill
warnings that if the high court backed Texas’ legal strategy, liberal-leaning
states might use the same tactic to limit rights dear to conservatives, such as
gun rights.
The governor said that “if states can now shield
their laws from review by the federal courts that compare assault weapons
to Swiss Army knives, then California will use that authority to
protect people’s lives, where Texas used it to put women in harm’s way.”
The reference was a swipe at a court ruling this
year in which a federal judge overturned California’s three-decade-old ban on assault weapons,
comparing the powerful guns, frequently used in mass shootings, to military
pocketknives.
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