Newsom commutes all 548 California death sentences to life

Los Angeles — California Governor Gavin Newsom said on Thursday he is commuting the death sentences of all 548 prisoners on the state's death row to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, calling capital punishment "incompatible" with the values of America's most populous state.

The blanket commutation, one of the largest in US history, empties a death row that ranks among the biggest in the world. It comes as Newsom, widely expected to seek the White House in 2028, prepares to leave office after eight years, according to France 24.

"Today I am acting on my long and deeply held conviction that individually and collectively we are stronger as a society when we reject state-sanctioned killing," Newsom wrote in a letter addressed "to all Californians", CNA reported. He acknowledged that "many Californians feel that those who commit brutal crimes deserve to die", but said he had concluded "the state cannot morally kill them", calling it "among the most difficult of my career".

California has not executed anyone for two decades, even as its courts kept imposing death sentences. Newsom placed a moratorium on executions in 2019, but hundreds remained on death row. Voters rejected a 2016 ballot measure to repeal the penalty, and under the state constitution the California Supreme Court must approve clemency for anyone convicted of a felony more than once — a legal hurdle that could test some of the commutations.

Newsom said he chose a blanket order rather than case-by-case reviews to avoid creating "two classes of murder victims — those whose perpetrators deserve the death penalty and then the rest". He added: "As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution."

The American Civil Liberties Union, which argues the penalty is applied with racial bias, praised the move. "These commutations reflect what justice demands: an end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment," said executive director Anthony Romero. Victims' families were central to Newsom's own framing: he said he prayed the decision would "finally separate the memories of the victims of these crimes from the fate of those who harmed them".

The announcement lands amid a fierce national argument over executions — from Tennessee's two failed attempts to lethally inject Christa Pike in September to President Donald Trump's cancellation, after bipartisan outcry, of a plan to livestream the firing-squad execution of Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan. The next test is procedural: the California Supreme Court must sign off on clemency for repeat felons, and its review will determine whether all 548 commutations stand.