California Gov. Gavin Newsom to commute all death sentences in state

Coverage of Newsom’s previous comments about commuting death sentences in California can be viewed in the video player above .

( KTXL ) – Gov. Gavin Newsom will commute the death sentences of all California inmates, changing the penalty for all 548 death row inmates to life without parole.

The outgoing governor announced the decision Thursday following weeks of speculation. The move comes just two months before Newsom leaves office in January.

When he took office in 2019, Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions, formalizing a de facto pause that had been in place since 2006.

But although that rule blocked all executions during his tenure, it still left all death sentences in place. In a letter addressed to all Californians, the governor shared his decision to commute the sentences of all 548 inmates — what he described as the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

“I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values,” Newsom wrote. “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.”

Newsom acknowledged that death row inmates have caused “indescribable suffering” to victims, families and communities across the state — and that many Californians “feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die.” However, he believes the state cannot morally kill them.

“I do, however, pray that this action will finally separate the memories of the victims of these crimes from the fate of those who harmed them,” he wrote. “We can now let these offenders die in obscurity while we forever remember and honor their victims.”

The Democratic governor, who is widely expected to mount a presidential bid in the coming months, called the decision one of the most difficult of his decades-long career and one he knows will anger and hurt many. Newsom said he respects the views of those who disagree — including the families of some victims — but called his decision a “righteous action.”

The governor also acknowledged that Californians have voted to keep the death penalty. In 2016, 53% voted no on Prop 66, which would have abolished the death penalty.

“But the constitution also gave every governor clemency authority, and that power exists for moments when law as applied cannot be squared with justice,” Newsom said. “For me, this is that moment.”

Newsom has the authority to unilaterally commute the sentences of inmates with only one conviction — about 40% of California’s death row, according to Amnesty International. The rest will go to the Supreme Court, where a majority of justices must approve each grant of clemency.

Only 17 countries carried out executions last year, the human rights group says, a group that includes the United States. Meanwhile, at least 113 countries have formally abolished the death penalty for all crimes.

The last execution in California was in January 2006, when 76-year-old Clarence Ray Allen was executed by lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison.

After Allen’s execution, a U.S. District Court found that the state’s lethal injection process created an unnecessary risk that the inmate would “suffer pain so extreme” that it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

This is a developing story and will be updated.