Newsom to Commute All California Death Sentences to Life Without Parole for All 548 Condemned Prisoners
California Governor Gavin Newsom on November 5 released an open letter to the people of California from the state capital, Sacramento, in Sacramento County, announcing that he will exercise his constitutional clemency authority to commute every death sentence in California to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A total of 548 people are now under sentence of death in California, the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.
"I have decided to exercise my constitutional clemency authority to commute all California death sentences to life without the possibility of parole," Newsom wrote. "I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us." Newsom has spent nearly 30 years in public office and has openly opposed state-sanctioned executions for nearly three decades.
Soon after taking office, on March 13, 2019, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, formalizing the de facto halt in place since 2006, the last year California executed anyone. In the letter, he noted that the moratorium prevented further executions but left all death sentences in place, which is what this action now addresses.
Newsom said he had carefully considered distinguishing among categories of capital crimes and offender characteristics, but decided against it. "I will therefore issue the same commutation to every condemned person - life without the possibility of parole, the most severe punishment I can lawfully impose and the state of California can ethically enforce," he wrote. "These offenders will die in prison but not by our hand." Some of the capital cases have been languishing in the courts for more than 40 years, and the governor said the action will bring them to a close.
Newsom acknowledged that the announcement may surface excruciating memories for victims' families, and said he deeply respects the views of those who will strongly disagree, including some victims' families. He also noted that California voters have voted three times in the last 14 years on whether to retain the death penalty and twice voted to retain it, including by a narrow margin in 2016, but wrote that the will of the voters cannot supersede the demands of morality, humanity, and justice, and that he chose to lead by exercising his clemency power rather than wait for a future voter decision.
Under California's Constitution, clemency grants to people twice convicted of a felony require review by the California Supreme Court. Newsom said the decision compels the involvement of the Chief Justice and Associate Justices in a unique inter-branch constitutional process, acknowledged it may complicate matters and create uncertainty, and said he welcomes the court's involvement. For condemned prisoners with a single felony conviction, the governor can commute directly. Clemency information is available at the Office of the Governor clemency page.
After the announcement, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and its California affiliates issued statements welcoming the move. ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero said Newsom "made history by announcing his intention to commute every death sentence in California and clear the largest death row in the nation." In the preceding months, law enforcement groups including the California District Attorneys Association and police chiefs had publicly urged Newsom not to grant a blanket commutation; San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow wrote to the governor on October 23 asking that each case be considered on its own facts and that victims be named in every clemency decision.
(Source: Office of the Governor of California)
Source: Office of the Governor of California
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加州州长 Gavin Newsom 在州长讲台前举行新闻发布会（2025年5月14日）。照片：加州州长办公室，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: California Governor Gavin Newsom at a press conference at the governor's podium on May 14, 2025. Photo by the Office of the Governor of California, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
- 2026-10-09Newsom weighs commuting all 563 California death sentences in historic move
- 2026-11-05Newsom to Commute All California Death Sentences to Life Without Parole for All 548 Condemned PrisonersThis story
