By Dean Cain
For four seasons, I played Superman. Every week, I caught the bad guy, handed him over to the police, and the system did its job. He stayed locked up. Superman always fought for truth, justice, and the American way. The credits rolled, and everybody at home slept a little better.
That was television. In Nevada, the power of the pardon doesn’t rest solely with the Governor; it’s a board that consists of the Governor, the Attorney General, and the Nevada Supreme Court, which is called the Nevada Board of Pardons.
What Attorney General Aaron Ford and his former chief of staff, Teresa Benitez-Thompson, have done on the Nevada Board of Pardons is real. And it is really harmful to our public safety, and something everyone should consider. On TV, I put dangerous men behind bars. In real life, Ford’s office, headed by Teresa Benitez-Thompson, has been letting convicted murderers out early.
The board decides whether to shorten or erase the sentences of people convicted of crimes. The Attorney General’s office holds a seat on it. While Benitez-Thompson ran the Attorney General’s office, they voted six times to put murderers back on the street. Each time, Governor Joe Lombardo voted no.
Look at what they voted for.
Michael Gravely was serving two sentences of life without parole for murder. Life without parole means you never get out. Before the vote, Ford asked whether anyone had contacted the victim’s family. The answer was no. The Attorney General’s office voted to free him anyway. Gravely walked out of prison the same day.
Michael Cu kidnapped 16-year-old Fernando Moreno, a Clark High School student on his way to borrow a typewriter for his homework. Cu forced him into the desert, made him kneel, and shot him in the back of the head with a rifle. Then he kept shooting. The prosecutors who convicted Cu came to the board hearing to oppose him. The Attorney General’s office voted to put CU on the street ten years early.
Frank Timothy Blocks was convicted of first-degree murder, killing someone in a carjacking over the rims on his car. He was supposed to answer to a parole officer for life. The Attorney General’s office voted to wipe that away. Today, as a convicted murderer, he is on the streets and doesn’t have to check in with anybody.
Alberto Guerrero and his father loaded a car with weapons, found Manuel Montpier on a sidewalk, and opened fire. Nevada’s own prison director urged the board to deny him. The Attorney General’s overruled him and voted to make Guerrero immediately eligible for parole.
Anthony Chernetsky pled guilty to murdering Joe Sherman, who was shot in the head and face while he slept. Joe’s family begged the board to end Chernetsky’s bid for release. The Attorney General’s office cast the deciding vote to keep it alive and drag that family back for another hearing.
Arlander Givens was convicted of first-degree murder for killing a man with a brick. The Attorney General’s office, headed by Teresa Benitez-Thompson, voted to end his parole requirements. The motion failed by Governor Lombardo’s one vote.
Six killers. Six times, Aaron Ford’s office looked at the murderer and the victim’s family and sided with the murderer. And Teresa Benitez-Thompson was the one running that office.
None of this came out of nowhere. Benitez-Thompson spent twelve years in the Nevada Assembly, and her record there points the same way. In 2019, she voted for AB 236, which lowered penalties for theft and drug crimes, raised the drug amounts needed for trafficking charges, and expanded early release. District attorneys and law enforcement pushed back.
Twelve Republicans voted no. She voted yes. That same year, she voted for AB 431, which handed felons back the right to vote the day they walk out of prison. In 2021, she voted for AB 424, which required pretrial release hearings within 48 hours of arrest and let courts set standing orders to release people charged with misdemeanors without bail.
Now Benitez-Thompson wants a seat in Congress, where she would vote on federal criminal law and the funding for the police and prosecutors who keep our families safe.
Here is what I learned playing a hero. Superman was never the point. The point was the promise behind him: that when someone does something evil, the people we trust to protect us will make sure he pays for it. Fernando Moreno’s family was made that promise. Joe Sherman’s family was made that promise. Aaron Ford and Teresa Benitez-Thompson broke it.
Northern Nevada doesn’t need a superhero. It needs leaders who will stand with victims instead of the people who hurt them. That is why I am supporting Lt. Col. David Flippo for Congress. He has spent his life serving this country, and he will not apologize for keeping murderers where they belong. That’s why he’s endorsed by almost every police organization in Northern Nevada.
On TV, the bad guys stayed locked up. In Nevada, that should be real too.
Dean Cain played Superman on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (ABC, 1993–1997). The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology may have been used in the research, writing, or production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
