Newsom commutes all 548 death sentences in California
· BehindLines newsroom
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday, November 5, in an open letter, that he will turn every death sentence in the state into life imprisonment without parole. According to CBS Sacramento, the measure covers 548 people; Al Jazeera describes it as the largest collective clemency in US history.
What the governor says
Newsom writes that killing carried out by the state clashes with Californian values and that the state cannot morally put these prisoners to death. He presents life without parole as the harshest penalty he can impose through clemency.
What the decision does not change
Per CBS, it does not repeal capital punishment and does not stop prosecutors from seeking it in future cases: those choices stay with prosecutors, juries and courts. Voters rejected abolition in 2012 (Proposition 34) and in 2016 (Proposition 62), while narrowly approving Proposition 66, meant to speed up proceedings. In addition, the state constitution requires judicial approval before pardoning someone convicted of more than one felony: according to Al Jazeera, roughly two thirds of the commutations must be reviewed by the California Supreme Court before they become final.
Figures and context
Citing the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), Al Jazeera reports that California has spent $6bn on capital punishment since 1978, for 13 executions, and that at least 203 wrongly sentenced people in the US have been exonerated since 1973. California's death row remains the largest in the country; the decision would cut the national total by nearly 30 percent. Newsom put a moratorium on executions in place in 2019; the last execution dates from 2006, CBS notes. A Pew poll released in August found 66 percent of Americans favoring the death penalty for murderers, according to Al Jazeera.
Reactions
Robin Maher, executive director of the DPIC, calls it a "decisive moment" and notes that other governors have granted universal clemency, but never on this scale. Ricardo García, Los Angeles County public defender, argues that clemency is not leniency. By contrast, Todd Spitzer, Orange County district attorney, faults the measure for overriding jury verdicts and undermining the wishes of victims' families; his office will keep seeking the death penalty where it considers it warranted.
Newsom, who has reached the end of his terms, leaves office in January 2027; Xavier Becerra is due to succeed him on January 4, according to Al Jazeera.