Newsom announces clemency for all 548 people on California’s death row

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday that he would commute the sentences of all 548 people on the state’s death row, in the largest mass clemency action in United States history. Those affected would receive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The move would empty the country’s largest death row and cut the national death row population by nearly 30 percent.

California has gone 20 years without executing a prisoner. In an open letter explaining his decision, Newsom said he believed executions by the state conflicted with California’s values and weakened its legal system. The Death Penalty Information Center, or DPIC, cautioned that about two-thirds of the commutations need review by the California Supreme Court before they become final. State law requires that review for clemency involving people with multiple felony convictions.

Criminal justice organizations welcomed the announcement, describing capital punishment as outdated, inefficient and immoral. DPIC Executive Director Robin Maher said previous governors had granted clemency to everyone on their states’ death rows, but never on this scale. She said Newsom’s earlier moratorium and the new commutations had fundamentally changed California’s relationship with capital punishment.

Public support for the death penalty has generally fallen since the 1990s, though a majority of Americans still favor it. An August Pew Research Center poll found that 66 percent supported its use for people convicted of murder, while roughly 73 percent recognized the risk of executing an innocent person. Twenty-three states have abolished capital punishment, and others have largely stopped using it while retaining it in law. Lengthy appeals mean many death row prisoners are never executed.

The announcement contrasts with President Donald Trump’s support for executions for serious federal crimes. His administration pledged in April to broaden the use of federal executions, including through firing squads. Supporters argue that capital punishment deters crime, while critics say decades of research do not support that argument. Opponents also cite costs, ethical concerns, disproportionate application to racial minorities and botched executions.

According to the DPIC, California has spent $6 billion on capital punishment since 1978 and carried out 13 executions during that period. The organization also says at least 203 people across the United States who were wrongly convicted and sentenced to death have been exonerated since 1973.

Despite its reputation as a left-leaning state, California helped advance punitive criminal justice policies during the late 20th century. Alongside Washington, it was among the first states to adopt “three strikes” laws in the early 1990s, imposing high minimum sentences on repeat offenders.

Newsom’s announcement follows major Democratic midterm election victories, including in former Republican strongholds Texas and Kansas, that have fueled speculation about the party’s 2028 presidential contenders. Long viewed as a potential candidate, Newsom has increasingly campaigned for Democrats nationwide. His second and final gubernatorial term ends in January 2027, with former US Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra succeeding him on January 4.

Newsom has also clashed with criminal justice groups and state lawmakers. In 2022, he vetoed proposed restrictions on solitary confinement in state prisons. In 2019, he rejected legislation limiting cooperation between prison authorities and Immigration and Customs Enforcement. A similar proposal failed in the state Senate in 2022.