Newsom commutes all 548 California death sentences

Newsom commutes all death sentences

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced Thursday he will grant clemency to all 548 people on death row, commuting their sentences to life without parole.This is the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S.history.

A quarter of U.S. death sentences

California holds the largest death row population in the U.S. and western hemisphere. Newsom's action, if fully enforced, would commute a quarter of all death sentences in the country.

Beyond the existing moratorium

Newsom's move goes further than the execution moratorium he established when he became governor in 2019. His successor, Democrat Xavier Becerra, has also committed to a stay on carrying out executions.

Newsom's moral conviction

In an open letter, Newsom wrote: "Today I am acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sanctioned killing."

“Today I am acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sanctioned killing.”

Death penalty incompatible with justice

Newsom, a Catholic who has long opposed capital punishment, said the state's system for administering the death penalty cannot be applied fairly and has resulted in wrongful convictions.

Prior actions against death penalty

Newsom dismantled the execution chamber at San Quentin in 2019 and transferred death row inmates into general prison populations. In February, he opened a new Learning Center expanding education, training, and reentry services.

Systemic inequality in death penalty

Newsom has argued the death penalty administration is unequal. He said in 2019: "You're better off in this country to be rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent."

“You're better off in this country to be rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent.”

Racial disparities on death row

Black people accounted for a third of California's death row population despite making up around six percent of the state's overall population, according to Judicial Council budget materials from May.

Exonerations reveal systemic flaws

At least two hundred three people on death row across thirty states have been exonerated since nineteen seventy-three, including eight in California. Of those exonerated nationwide, sixty-five percent were people of color.

Inadequate legal representation

At the end of two thousand twenty-five, three hundred ninety-one people, or seventy percent of California's death row population, were awaiting the appointment and funding of lawyers for state habeas corpus proceedings.

Death penalty costs billions

Since nineteen seventy-eight, California has spent around six billion dollars on the death penalty system while executing thirteen men. Two-thirds of death row inmates were sentenced more than twenty years ago.

Supreme Court must review most cases

Newsom's clemency will not automatically apply to all inmates.Cases involving people with multiple felony convictions must be reviewed by the Supreme Court.

Court's review role is limited

The Supreme Court's role is extremely limited. The court is not meant to decide whether each applicant deserves mercy, but whether the governor's action is an abuse of his broad constitutional authority.

Prosecutors argue clemency overrides justice

The Criminal Justice Legal Foundation argued the action overrides jury verdicts and judicial sentences. Anne Marie Schubert, former Sacramento district attorney and CJLF president, said it goes against California voters who rejected death penalty repeal…

Victims' families divided on decision

Jess Nichol, whose stepsister Polly Klaas was kidnapped and murdered in nineteen ninety-three at age twelve, supports commutation. But Klaas's father Marc Klaas described Newsom's decision as a knife in the back to victims' families.

Some victims' families urge commutation

Earlier this week, a group of fifty murder victims' family members sent a letter to Newsom calling for blanket commutation. They wrote that the death penalty prolongs an already agonizing experience with a lengthy process.

Former warden haunted by executions

Jeanne Woodford, a former warden at San Quentin who presided over four executions, said in a statement supporting Newsom's decision: "As someone who has carried out executions in California, I am haunted by the fear…

“As someone who has carried out executions in California, I am haunted by the fear that we will execute an innocent person.”

Newsom's final act before leaving office

The move will be among Newsom's final actions before he leaves office in January. He is expected to announce a two thousand twenty-eight presidential run, which some argue Thursday's action could impact.