California's death row is wiped clean as Gavin Newsom spares all 548 inmates

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA: Gov Gavin Newsom said on Thursday, November 5, that he is commuting the sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row to life without the possibility of parole.

He announced the decision in an open letter to Californians.

The move does not repeal the death penalty, but it clears the state’s death row, the largest in the Western Hemisphere.

Supporters welcomed it, while prosecutors and some victims’ families are expected to oppose it.

Gavin Newsom spares 548 death row inmates

Newsom, announcing the reportedly largest mass commutation in modern US history, wrote that he is using his constitutional clemency power because “state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values.”

He called the state’s system a failure that “has resulted in the conviction of innocent people.”

He said he decided against sorting inmates into categories because that would “create two classes of victims.”

Newsom also addressed victims’ families directly, writing: “We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honor their victims.”

He said he knows the decision may reopen painful memories and acknowledged that it “will anger and hurt some Californians,” further writing that he alone bears responsibility for it.

The letter is also clear about what the order does not do.

Voters have kept the death penalty on the books, and Newsom said only the legislature and voters can repeal it. Prosecutors can still seek death sentences in new cases.

Under the state constitution, the California Supreme Court must review clemency for anyone convicted of two felonies.

Newsom wrote that this “compels the involvement” of the justices, and he said he is confident the action is lawful.

The decision also lands as Newsom is widely discussed as a possible 2028 presidential candidate.

California's death row problem

Newsom has opposed the death penalty throughout his career.

On March 13, 2019, soon after taking office, he signed an order halting executions.

California has not carried one out since 2006. The order left every death sentence in place, which is why hundreds of inmates stayed on death row for years.

The state’s system has long been stuck. Appeals in capital cases often last decades, and some of the cases Newsom just closed have been in court for more than 40 years.

Voters have been closely split on the issue. They have rejected repeals at the ballot box and have also passed measures meant to speed up executions.

Newsom’s critics say that history shows the public wants the penalty kept.

His supporters say a governor’s clemency power exists to be used when he believes the law cannot be squared with justice.

Newsom is due to leave office in January 2027. Advocates had urged him to act before then, partly because a successor could have restarted executions.