Newsom Commutes Death Sentences of All 548 California Death Row Inmates to Life in Prison

California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He announced the decision in a letter. California has historically had the largest death row population in the United States.

The move is largely symbolic, since California has not executed anyone since 2006. Only 13 inmates have been put to death since voters reinstated capital punishment in 1978. Experts say the change could still save millions of dollars in court costs each year.

Newsom's reasoning

The governor used his constitutional clemency powers. In the letter he wrote that after nearly 30 years in public office he has come to understand the limits of what government can justly accomplish. In his view, state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the foundations of the legal system and diminishes everyone.

Newsom called the decision difficult but a "righteous action". He acknowledged that many Californians believe people who commit brutal crimes deserve to die, but said he had concluded the state cannot morally kill them. By every measure, he argued, California's death penalty system is a failure, has not been and cannot be applied fairly, and has led to the conviction of innocent people. He said life without parole is the most severe punishment he can lawfully impose and the state can ethically carry out.

He also wrote that the offenders can now die in obscurity while the victims are remembered and honoured.

Background

Newsom had already ordered a halt to executions in California in 2019. As the governor of the most populous US state, he is term limited and in his final months in office, and has been discussed as a possible presidential contender in 2028. Fellow Democrat Xavier Becerra is projected to succeed him following Tuesday's midterm elections.