California empties death row: Newsom swaps 548 death sentences for life without parole

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday he will commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the largest mass commutation in U.S. history, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Newsom announced the move 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, as quoted by CalMatters and the Associated Press. "Many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die. But as Governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them," he wrote, according to CBS Sacramento.

Not final for everyone yet

The state constitution requires the California Supreme Court to approve clemency for anyone convicted of more than one felony, and CalMatters reported that four of the court's seven justices must sign off in those cases. The Death Penalty Information Center said the grants take effect immediately for about one-third of the people on death row, while the other two-thirds await court review. No timeline for that review has been announced.

The move does not repeal the death penalty, which California voters kept in 2012 and 2016. Prosecutors can still seek it in new cases, CBS Sacramento reported.

Who's affected

California's 548 condemned prisoners are more than a quarter of the nation's death row, CalMatters reported. The state has not executed anyone since 2006. Newsom ordered a moratorium on executions in 2019, and the state has since moved the men off San Quentin's death row into other prisons.

About 33% of the people on California's death row are Black, 32% white and 29% Latino, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which counts eight death row exonerations in the state, all of them men of color.

Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU, called the death penalty "a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment," the AP reported. Topo Padilla, president of Crime Victims United, objected 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 told CalMatters.

Next: the California Supreme Court's review of the cases that need its approval.

Sources

• CalMatters: Gavin Newsom clears death row, commutes sentences for hundreds of prisoners
• PBS NewsHour / Associated Press: Newsom says he will commute all 548 of California's death sentences to life without parole
• CBS Sacramento: California death row sentences to be commuted to life without parole, Newsom says
• Death Penalty Information Center: Governor Gavin Newsom Grants Largest Mass Commutation in U.S. History
• Office of the Governor: Open letter on commutation of all death sentences (PDF)