It looks like Santa Ana Unified School District was not the only organization that took money from Henry Nicholas, the rich Republican campaign donor who was recently indicted for being “entangled in his own netherworld of prostitution, drug peddling, bribery and death threats,” according to the Sacramento Bee.
Apparently Nicholas, who singlehandedly defeated an attempt to reform our Three Strikes law, “is the financial force behind two crime initiatives voters will consider in November – one to stiffen anti-gang statutes and another to bolster victims’ rights. Combined, he has given the measures $5.9 million – critical seed money used to collect signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
Now that we all know how pervy Nicholas is, the “Proponents are furiously backpedaling away from Nicholas’ involvement – even though he is the largest donor to both campaigns.”
The two measures are called “Marsy’s Law” and “the Safe Neighborhoods Act.” Assemblyman Tod Spitzer has been and will continue to run the Marsy’s Law campaign. This law “would expand the rights of crime victims and make it harder for convicts to obtain parole.”
The Safe Neighborhoods Act “would stiffen penalties for gang members and increase law enforcement funding in the state.”
Neither campaign has given back the money Nicholas donated. Nor have I heard anything out of the SAUSD as to whether or not their relationship with Nicholas is over.
The downfall of Nicholas is something else. What a waste! He could have done so much good. In a way he is the comic book character Bruce Wayne gone bad. Instead of becoming Batman and fighting crime, he allegedly pulled an Elliot Spitzer and got hooked by pricey women if ill repute and drugs.
His drug addiction is an illness that he truly needs to face. His actions are the result of his disease. He should be held accountable for his crimes but should be shown some mercy and be made to face his disease. I honestly believe his illegal actions in relation to Broadcom was the result of his drug and alcohol addiction. I believe his tough stance on trying to block petty criminals from being released with Prop 66 was the result of him projecting his self guilt onto others.
I needs help andI hope he truly gets the help he needs to beat his addiction and disease. Then he should spend a couple of years in prison for the crimes he committed.
I agree. Drug addiction is a disease and I hope that he gets help. It is just unfortunate though that b/c of his money on Prop 66 there are more than 4,000 people still in prison serving 25 years to life for non-violent/non-serious crimes, many of who had the “disease of addiction”. The only difference between Mr. Nicholas and many of those serving time for their addiction is that Mr. Nicholas had money to support his habit. I hope that California voters will think twice befor voting for Marsy’s Law or the Safe Neighborhood Act. Neither address the underlying issues of crime such as drug addiction or domestic violence. We have to invest as much in prevention as we do in incarceration for our streets to ever be safer.