Newsom moves to empty California's death row as 2028 looms
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks in Los Angeles on Nov. 1. Photo: Apu Gomes/Getty Images
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday he plans to commute all 548 of the state's death sentences to life without parole, a sweeping decision that could empty the nation's largest death row.
Why it matters: If Newsom follows through, it will be the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history, reducing the national death-row population by more than a quarter.
- The move comes during Newsom's final months as governor and ahead of a potential 2028 bid for president.
What he's saying: "I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency," Newsom wrote in a letter to Californians.
- "Many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die. But as Governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them."
- "We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honor their victims."
- "This decision is among the most difficult of my career," he wrote.
Context: Newsom can commute some sentences on his own, but prisoners with multiple felony convictions need approval from the California Supreme Court before their sentences can be reduced, per the California Constitution.
Yes, but: This won't end the death penalty in California. It remains legal even though the state hasn't performed one since 2006.
Flashback: Shortly after taking office, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, reprieving 737 prisoners from death row.
- The ACLU has been pushing Newsom to commute death row sentences since former President Biden did so in 2024 for 37 federal prisoners.
- Other Democratic governors have similarly commuted death sentences, including North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, who commuted 15 in 2024.
Zoom out: The death penalty faces heavy scrutiny nationwide after Tennessee's failed execution attempt of Christa Pike and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's call for a public execution.
