Newsom commutes California death sentences
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved to commute all 548 death row sentences to life without parole.
Nearly 60% need California Supreme Court approval before the commutations finalize.
Background
Gavin Newsom is the governor of California, now in his final months in office and considering a run for president. In 2019, shortly after taking office, he issued a moratorium on executions, calling the death penalty a "failure" and citing racial discrimination, high costs and the risk of human error. California had not executed anyone since 2006 but kept the nation's largest death row population, spending an estimated $6 billion on the death penalty since it was reinstated in 1978 and carrying out 13 executions. The commutation is described as bookending that 2019 moratorium.
How it unfolded
- Jan 17, 2006California last put a prisoner to death, Clarence Ray Allen, via lethal injection.
- 2019Shortly after taking office, Newsom issued a moratorium on executions, calling the death penalty a "failure" and citing racial discrimination, high costs and the risk of human error.
- 2024Male death row prisoners were cleared out of their individual cells at San Quentin State Prison and distributed among 24 other facilities.
- Nov 5, 2026Newsom announced he is commuting the death sentences of all 548 people on California's death row to life without parole, described as the largest mass clemency in American history.
- Nov 5, 2026Newsom told the California Supreme Court of the commutations; about 40% can be done by his pen, while nearly 60% require the high court's approval, and for those convicted of multiple felonies four of seven judges must sign off.
Key terms
- commute
- A legal act replacing a convicted person's penalty with a lesser one, in severity or duration, without changing the conviction.
- moratorium
- A delay or suspension of an activity or law, often temporary.
- clemency
- A government decision that relieves a person of some or all legal consequences of a criminal conviction.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Official
- Newsom said state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the legal system and diminishes everyone, and that the state cannot execute people in an imperfect legal system and remain true to justice and human decency.
- Analysts
- Death Penalty Information Center executive director Robin Maher called it a decisive moment in the history of the U.S. death penalty, noting that though other governors have granted universal clemencies, none have been at this scale.
- Support
- A coalition of victims' families, prosecutors, former corrections professionals, faith leaders, civil rights advocates and business leaders welcomed the decision and had urged Newsom to act.
- Caution
- Victims rights advocates criticized the decision, arguing it flew in the face of juries and judges who upheld the death sentences and of voters who have upheld the practice.
Still unverified
An Instagram post said Newsom was considering commuting all 563 California death sentences to life without parole before leaving office.