California governor commutes sentences of more than 500 people on death row

Key points

• California Governor Gavin Newsom is commuting the sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row.
• Those affected will serve life sentences without the possibility of parole instead.
• About two-thirds of the commutations must be reviewed by the California Supreme Court before becoming final.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that he will commute the sentences of all 548 people on death row in the state, the largest mass clemency in United States history. The move effectively clears California's death row, though the state has not executed a prisoner for 20 years. Those affected will instead serve life sentences without the possibility of parole.

Newsom said in an open letter that he took the action because he believes state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values, undermines the legal system and diminishes everyone. The Death Penalty Information Center said about two-thirds of the commutations must be reviewed by the California Supreme Court under state law before they become final.

Death penalty debate in the US

Support for capital punishment in the US has largely declined since the 1990s but still holds majority backing. A Pew Research Center poll in August found 66 percent of Americans supported the punishment for those convicted of murder, while roughly 73 percent acknowledged a risk of executing an innocent person. Twenty-three states have banned the practice outright, and others have effectively abandoned it.

President Donald Trump has championed the death penalty for serious federal crimes, and in April his administration pledged to expand federal executions, including by employing firing squads. According to the DPIC, California has spent $6bn on the death penalty since 1978 while carrying out just 13 executions in that time. The DPIC says at least 203 people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death in the US have been exonerated since 1973.

I take this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values

— Gavin Newsom

Reaction and political context

Criminal justice groups praised the decision. Robin Maher, executive director of the DPIC, said no other governor has granted universal clemency at this scale and that Newsom has "irrevocably changed California's relationship with the death penalty." The decision will reduce the number of people on death row nationally by nearly 30 percent.

The announcement came days after Democratic midterm election wins in states including Texas and Kansas. Newsom, who has long been seen as a likely presidential contender, will leave office in January 2027 and be replaced by Xavier Becerra on January 4. In 2022 he vetoed a bill limiting solitary confinement in state prisons, and in 2019 he vetoed a measure limiting cooperation between ICE and prison authorities.