Newsom Commutes All 548 California Death Sentences in Historic Mass Clemency

SACRAMENTO — California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row, converting them to life in prison without the possibility of parole in what the Death Penalty Information Center calls the largest mass clemency in American history. The 548 prisoners — 529 men and 19 women — make up more than a quarter of everyone sentenced to death in the United States, and their commutation effectively empties the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

About two-thirds of the cases, 382 in total, must first be reviewed by the California Supreme Court, which state law requires to weigh in on clemency for anyone convicted of more than one felony. The remaining 166 commutations can take effect immediately, and Newsom has asked the court to return its recommendations by the end of 2026 so he can issue the certificates before his term ends in January. "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," Newsom wrote in an open letter to Californians. The move does not abolish the death penalty, which voters chose to keep in 2012 and 2016, and a future governor could resume executions — though none has taken place in California since January 2006, and Newsom imposed a moratorium shortly after taking office in 2019.

The decision drew a swift denunciation from Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin, who said prosecutors whose offices secured the convictions were not notified before the announcement. Newsom, a Democrat in the final weeks of his second and final term, steps down on January 4 and hands over to Governor-elect Xavier Becerra, as he is widely expected to seek the party's presidential nomination in 2028 — a contest in which his record on capital punishment is now certain to be a defining issue for Democrats after their midterm sweep.