California Governor Gavin Newsom has issued the state’s first pardon to a registrant. The pardon was issued to Bayard Rustin, a colleague of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on February 4. Rustin was convicted of a sex offense and required to register as a sex offender in Los Angeles in 1953 because he participated in a consensual adult sex act with another man.
“We celebrate the courage and wisdom of Governor Newsom in his decision to issue a pardon to Bayard Rustin,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This is the first time a California Governor has issued a pardon to a person convicted of a sex offense.”
The issuance of Rustin’s pardon followed requests made to the Governor by both the California Legislative Black and LGBTQ Caucuses.
Rustin is credited as a key strategist and organizer behind the 1963 March on Washington, D.C. He is also credited with helping Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Rustin visited California several times during his civil rights career, including trips to Japanese Americans imprisoned in the Manzanar interment camp.
President Barack Obama honored Rustin in 2013 by posthumously awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award in the United States. That award described Rustin as “an unyielding activist for civil rights, dignity and equality for all.”
Following his issuance of Rustin’s pardon, Governor Newsom announced that his office would launch a new clemency initiative focused on pardoning others who were prosecuted in the state of California because they were gay.
“I thank those who advocated for Bayard Rustin’s pardon, and I want to encourage others in similar situations to seek a pardon to right this egregious wrong,” stated Governor Newsom in a press release issued on February 5. According to that press release, the new clemency initiative will work to identify eligible pardon candidates, and diligently process applications with the express goal of pardoning eligible individuals. Additional information regarding that initiative is available at www.gov.ca.gov/clemency
Download the Pardon – Bayard Rustin – Feb 2020
For what good does a pardon do for me if I already passed away?
Not the kind of news I am looking for but good for California residents to check out.
Thanks to Governor Newsome for taking one small step in the right direction.
Wow. Jerry brown didn’t do that for a man convicted of having gay sex? Seems he wasn’t quite as liberal as I’d been lead to believe.
Don’t anyone get excited about this political ploy. It’s meant to curry favor with the black / gay demographic for votes. Has nothing to do with any current registrant. You could save a school bus of burning children and not get a sex offense pardon. Accept it.
One small step for man. But now ONE GIANT LEAP FOR JANICE, FRANK, CHANCE, AND WHOLE ACSOL TEAM…down to the last small voice.
The recall effort against Newsom in CA is gaining support. Lots of really bad legislation making it through, just a constant flip-flop of laws politics and power. One way or another the system endures and awaits the next avatar to take the helm.
Always facing the same problem: continue the status quo or deliver the change that’s needed. So they take a small step, the least possible move that is still barely measurable. And then 4 years go by and suddenly they need to keep their jobs. “Vote but just don’t get to know anything about me other than my Twitter feed PR!”
Agree – this is a political move. If Rustin were straight and white but all other circumstances were the same, this pardon never would have been issued. Further, a posthumous pardon in all honesty is functionally worthless. Personally, I’m not very big on symbolic gestures like this.
I’ve read up on a few things about Newsom, and it seems to me that he doesn’t consider homosexuality as criminal (which I agree with), regardless of circumstance (which I don’t). I could be wrong, but it looks like his ultimate goal is to exclude homosexuality from the registry and all other sex crime, and likely struggles with ways to do so while still laying the hammers down on heterosexual registrants, crimes, and accusations of. Maybe it’s a little cynical, but it looks to me like anything Newsom has done in registrants’ favor was probably either inadvertent. Or he couldn’t find a way to benefit homosexual registrants without excluding their heterosexual peers. I can’t tasting the grain of salt when reading these stories.
Funny thing though, in some states (Georgia, for example) pardons don’t release someone from the registry. In others, like Florida, even death doesn’t. If registration is for life, why are there so many dead registrants? (Grants to maintain the registry, of course)
If Newsom were serious he would look at those with a Certificate of Rehab or those who had NON CONTACT offenses and reduce the number and costs of the Registry. But he would not even consider unless he could see advantages to him. Anyway just a thought for Newsom who might be recalled soon
The Governor just took office in January of 2019. I might remind you (ALL) to grow up! It sounds like your all blaming him for your being on the registry! This is the 1st time any sex related offense has been pardoned. You guys should be celebrating the opportunity for being able to get off the registry and the fact that there are no longer residence restrictions and you can freely visit beaches. I have a 21-22 year old expunged misdemeanor battery with summary probation. I lost a professional license, lost a dream job and I would probably jump off a bridge if I new how much I lost financially as a result of this. Your all filled with so much anger and hatred! Yet, you complain of others doing the same. Why don’t you take action? Donate? Things aren’t going to change overnight? You can attack my comment, but I stand by it 200 %! Quite moaning. I filed my own PC 17B, PC 1203.4 and PC 858.1! It wasn’t easy, but they where granted. I filed a COR in OC which was denied. I’m waiting patiently to get off the registry in 2021! It’s your fault and what are you going to do? Write a 30 paragraph response to my honest and accurate comment, or take action cry babies!