Newsom Clears California Death Row in Historic Clemency

California Governor Gavin Newsom has granted the largest mass commutation in United States history, converting the death sentences of all 548 inmates on the state’s death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

In an open letter to Californians released on Thursday, Newsom described the action as a moral imperative rooted in his long-standing opposition to capital punishment. “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. “These offenders will die in prison, but not by our hand.”

The decision empties what has long been the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

California has not carried out an execution since 2006 and has executed only 13 people since voters reinstated the death penalty in 1978. The state has spent an estimated $6 billion on the system over that period. Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in 2019 and ordered the dismantling of the lethal injection chamber at San Quentin. The commutations formalise that stance as he prepares to leave office in January 2027 amid widespread expectation that he will seek the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028.

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Roughly one-third of the commutations take effect immediately. The remaining cases—nearly 400 prisoners with multiple felony convictions—require review and approval by the California Supreme Court under the state constitution. At least four of the seven justices must sign off. Legal challenges are already being prepared by groups such as the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation.

Newsom said he deliberately avoided distinguishing among crimes or offenders to prevent creating “two classes of murder victims.” He acknowledged the decision was “among the most difficult of my career,” not because he doubted its necessity, but because it would reopen painful memories for victims’ families. “We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honour their victims,” he wrote.

Reactions have been sharply divided. The American Civil Liberties Union welcomed the move, calling capital punishment “a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment.” Jess Nichol, whose sister was murdered by a man on California’s death row, said she once supported the killer’s execution but changed her view: “Whether he’s executed has absolutely nothing to do with my recovery or with real public safety. The system tells survivors that execution matters to our healing. It doesn’t.”

Other victims’ relatives and law-enforcement voices condemned the decision. Marc Klaas, father of murdered 12-year-old Polly Klaas, described it as a betrayal that handed “the gift of life” to people who had taken it from their victims. Prosecutors and victims’ advocacy groups argued that Newsom had overridden jury verdicts and judicial findings on the basis of personal belief.

The announcement came on the same day Alabama, Florida and Indiana carried out executions, underscoring the deepening national divide over capital punishment. The United States remains one of the few wealthy democracies that retains the death penalty.

Newsom’s action is projected to reduce the national death-row population by nearly 30 per cent, leaving approximately 1,388 people under sentence of death—the lowest number since

The commutations do not repeal California’s death penalty statute, which can only be changed by voters or the legislature. Future death sentences remain legally possible, though Newsom’s successor, Xavier Becerra, has indicated he will maintain the execution moratorium. Experts note that ending the formal death-row status is expected to save the state millions of dollars annually in specialised housing and protracted appeals.

Newsom framed the decision as the culmination of nearly three decades in public life: “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.”