Image copyright Reuters/Evelyn Hockstein
Nadine Saad (Los Angeles), Madeline Halpert
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on the 5th that the sentences of all 548 death row inmates in the state will be commuted to life in prison without parole.
In a letter to "all Californians," Governor Newsom said he would use the pardon power given to him by the state constitution to commute death row inmates' sentences to life in prison without parole. "We can now ensure that these criminals die in obscurity while forever remembering and memorializing their victims," he wrote.
"After nearly 30 years in public office, I have come to understand the limits of what government can legitimately accomplish," Governor Newsom wrote. "I do this because I believe state killings are incompatible with California's values, undermine the foundations of our legal system, and undermine the dignity of each of us."
California has not carried out the death penalty since 2006, so this decision has a strong symbolic meaning. On the other hand, experts say the decision could save millions of dollars in court costs each year. Voters voted to reinstate the death penalty in the state in 1978, and 13 inmates have been executed since then.
California, the most populous state in the United States, once had the highest number of death row inmates in the United States. Governor Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in the state in 2019.
Following the governor's announcement, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hockman issued a statement on the 5th saying that while Governor Newsom has the authority to commute sentences, only the state Legislature or voters can abolish the death penalty.
"The people of California were asked whether to abolish the death penalty in two separate referendums, and in both votes they chose to maintain the death penalty for the most heinous crimes," said Prosecutor Hochman.
California political news site CalMatters reports that the governor's decision to commute the sentence must be approved by at least four of the seven justices of the California Supreme Court.
own responsibility and conscience
Governor Newsom wrote in a letter to the state's residents that his decision was difficult but "the right thing to do." He also explained that while many state residents believe those who commit brutal crimes deserve the death penalty, the state concluded that ``the state cannot morally kill these people.''
The governor said California's execution system is a "failure" by all standards. He wrote that the law has not and will continue to not be applied fairly, resulting in the conviction of multiple innocent people.
Regarding commuting the death penalty to life in prison without the possibility of parole, he said life without parole is the most severe punishment he can legally impose and that the state can ethically carry out.
The governor acknowledged that his pardon would anger and hurt some Californians, writing, "I will always take it seriously."
"As Governor, I am solely responsible for this decision and its consequences, just as I am solely responsible for each and every execution," Newsom wrote. "For these reasons, I have no choice but to follow my conscience and take this action in the interest of the welfare of California, as authorized by this state's Constitution."
In the United States, each state has the power to prosecute crimes and impose the death penalty, if applicable. Most of that power is concentrated in the state governor.
image copyrightGetty Images
Newsom will end his term as governor next January. His successor will be Javier Becerra of the Democratic Party, who was confirmed to win in the midterm elections on the 3rd.
There are rumors that Newsom may run for president in 2028 after leaving office.
Bernard E. Harcourt, a professor of law and civil liberties at Columbia University, told the BBC that although the death penalty is widely supported in the United States, it is not unheard of for a potential presidential candidate to call for its abolition before an election.
Professor Harcourt pointed out that former French President Francois Mitterrand ``placed himself in a morally high position and was rewarded by the people for doing just that'' by calling for the abolition of the death penalty in the 1981 French presidential election.
"I sense a very similar sense of ethics in Governor Newsom's comments about commuting sentences, and voters may respect that here as well," he said.
Death penalty system varies by state
Across the United States, executions are on the rise. At the end of September this year, a death row inmate in Tennessee received attention after being injected twice with a lethal dose of drugs and survived, but on the 5th, one execution each is scheduled to take place in Indiana, Florida, and Alabama.
In the United States, both the federal and state governments can order executions.
According to the U.S. nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center, the death penalty is legal in 27 states, but has been abolished in 23 states and Washington, D.C.
California primarily carries out executions by lethal injection, and previously housed male death row inmates at San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco and female death row inmates at Central California Women's Prison in the Central Valley.
However, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, a referendum in 2016 allowed him to be transferred to other facilities with the necessary level of security.
Keith Doolin, a 53-year-old death row inmate who was sentenced to death for killing two women and shooting four others in California in 1996, is also included in Newsom's commutation plan. It is still unclear how this will affect the treatment of the death row inmates. Doolin maintains his innocence.
Doolin lived on death row at San Quentin for decades, but was transferred to another prison when the state's governor announced that the prison would be renovated for non-death row inmates in 2025.
Doolin's mother, Donna Larsen, told the BBC she had mixed feelings when she learned of Newsom's commutation of his sentence.
"At least the execution chamber will not be rebuilt and Californians will never be murdered again," Larsen said.
Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), praised Governor Newsom's decision.
"Racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishments have burdened the state of California for far too long. Justice has called for an end to them. (The Governor's) commutation reflects this demand for justice."
"With this action, Governor Newsom reiterates that the death penalty does not exist in California, and he has shown true courage by confronting racial injustice head on," Romero said.
At the federal level, President Donald Trump, a longtime supporter of the death penalty, has described it as "an essential tool to deter and punish those who would commit the most heinous crimes and deadly acts of violence against the American people."
Executions for federal offenses had been suspended for about 20 years, until 2020. Trump ended the moratorium in the same year during his first administration, ordering 13 executions in six months.
The moratorium on executions was reinstated under President Joe Biden, but Trump signed an executive order reinstating the death penalty on the first day of his second term in January 2025.
However, there have been no federal executions since Trump signed the executive order.
(California governor commutes sentences for state's 548 death row inmates)
