California governor Gavin Newsom has announced plans to commute the death sentences of all 548 people currently on the state’s death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
In an open letter, Mr Newsom said he would use his constitutional clemency powers to carry out the commutations, describing state executions as incompatible with California’s values.
“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.
The decision does not abolish the death penalty in California, nor does it prevent prosecutors from seeking capital punishment in future cases. Those decisions will remain with prosecutors, juries and courts.
Mr Newsom acknowledged that many Californians believed people convicted of brutal crimes should be executed, but said: “As Governor, I have concluded the state cannot morally kill them.”
California voters have repeatedly rejected attempts to remove the death penalty. They voted down a proposal to abolish capital punishment in 2012 and rejected another repeal measure four years later, while narrowly approving a separate proposal aimed at speeding up death penalty cases.
Mr Newsom imposed a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in 2019. California last carried out an execution in 2006.
The commutations drew contrasting reactions from criminal justice officials. Los Angeles County public defender Ricardo García welcomed the decision, saying his office had called for universal clemency because of deep inequities in the death penalty system.
“Clemency is not leniency,” Mr García said. “This decision moves California closer to a justice system that values human dignity.”
Orange County district attorney Todd Spitzer condemned the move, arguing that it overrode jury verdicts and disregarded the wishes of victims’ families.
“The pursuit of justice does not bend to political whims, and I am heartbroken for the hundreds of families who must now grapple with the devastation of knowing that the monsters who harmed their loved ones are one step closer to being back out on our streets,” Mr Spitzer said.
He said his office would continue to seek the death penalty in cases where prosecutors considered it warranted.
Under the commutations, the death sentences would become life imprisonment without parole, which Mr Newsom described as the most severe punishment he could impose through clemency. Some cases will require review by the California Supreme Court because the state constitution requires court approval when a governor grants clemency to someone convicted of more than one felony.
