Newsom Commutes 548 California Death Sentences to Life Without Parole

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday, Nov. 5, that he is commuting the death sentences of all 548 people on California's death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He is weeks from leaving office after eight years.

The prisoners represent more than a quarter of the nation's condemned inmates. California had the largest death row in the country.

Newsom explained the decision in a letter addressed "to all Californians." "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," he wrote.

He also acknowledged the cost. Newsom said it was among the most difficult choices of his career because it will surface painful memories for victims' families. "As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution," he wrote.

Not all of it is final

The state constitution requires California Supreme Court approval to grant clemency to anyone convicted of a felony more than once. For prisoners with multiple felony convictions, four of the seven justices must sign off.

That means some of Thursday's commutations are not yet complete. The governor's office has not said how many prisoners fall into that category.

Newsom also said those with commuted sentences will not be eligible for the Board of Parole Hearings' commutation and resentencing regulations. Prosecutors, victims' groups and death penalty supporters had warned that people newly sentenced to life might later get a shot at release. This closes that door, at least as announced.

The backdrop

Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, two months into his first term, and dismantled the execution chamber at San Quentin. California has not executed anyone since 2006.

Voters have had their say on the question. In 2016 they rejected a ballot measure to abolish the death penalty and approved one to speed up executions.

Since 2024, the male condemned prisoners have been moved out of their San Quentin cells and spread across 24 other facilities. Twenty condemned women were moved to general population at the Central California Women's Facility that year.

The timing follows Tennessee's failed attempt to execute Christa Pike on Sept. 30. Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital and is back in prison. The New York Times reported that talk of a mass commutation began circulating in Newsom's circle after that episode. Newsom has described a personal standard for the choice, saying on his podcast, "I have to prepare for my own conscience, my rocking chair test."

Victims' families and prosecutors object

The pushback has been sharp. Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered in 1993, said the move betrays families who followed the process. Her killer, Richard Allen Davis, is on death row.

"Baby killers, cop killers, spree killers and serial killers have all found an ally in Gavin Newsom," Klaas told Fox News Digital. "We have been working within the system. We've done everything that's been asked of us. Most of us have attended every day of the trial and waited, oftentimes for decades like we have, watching unsuccessful appeal after unsuccessful appeal."

Topo Padilla, president of Crime Victims United, made the same objection last week, before the announcement. "I don't think he or any person should undo the sentence rendered by a jury and signed off by a judge because of his personal beliefs or feelings," he said.

Newsom's office points to his long-stated position. A spokesperson told Fox News Digital that he "believes the intentional killing of another person is wrong" and has been clear about that since his first year in office.

On the other side, Natasha Minsker, former director of the ACLU of California's Center for Advocacy and Policy, said the death penalty has become a forgotten part of California politics. She said legislators are often surprised to learn the state still has it on the books, since no one has been executed in two decades.

Precedent and politics

Newsom is not the first governor to do this. An Illinois Republican commuted all 167 of that state's death sentences in 2003 before leaving office. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, commuted 15 sentences on his last day in 2024.

The Guardian described Newsom as a probable 2028 presidential candidate and noted that Democrats have at times avoided mass commutations for fear of being painted as soft on crime. The same outlet noted that some advocates have accused Newsom of caving to political pressure in other cases, including vetoing the release of high-profile prisoners granted parole.

California is one of 27 states that still have capital punishment on the books. The commutations do not change that. A future governor and legislature could not carry out these particular sentences once the commutations are final, but the statute and the voters' 2016 vote to speed up executions remain in place.

The next step is the California Supreme Court. Which prisoners' cases go before the justices, and whether four of seven will approve each one, is still unanswered.