Newsom commutes sentences of all California death row prisoners

By Dalia Faheid, Devon M. Sayers, CNN

(CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Thursday he is commuting every death sentence in his state to a sentence of life in prison without parole – nearly eight years after declaring a moratorium on executions.

“My decision today comes after nearly three decades of openly opposing state-sanctioned executions as an elected official,” Newsom, who is mulling a 2028 White House bid, wrote in an open letter to California residents shared by his office.

The move will impact the lives of 548 people in the state, which has the largest number of people under a death sentence in the United States, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit that tracks capital punishment. The state’s last execution took place about 20 years ago.

Newsom’s announcement comes as the death penalty faces renewed scrutiny following Tennessee’s failed execution of Christa Pike in late September.

In the weeks since Pike survived two doses of pentobarbital, Tennessee paused the state’s remaining executions but requests to stop executions elsewhere have been denied in courts. Three lethal injections were scheduled on Thursday, with Florida and Alabama planning to execute two men hours after an execution in Indiana.

Taking hundreds of people off death row won’t be automatic. There are 382 cases the California Supreme Court will need to review and approve the commutation, according to the governor’s office. Those cases involve prisoners with more than one felony conviction.

California’s death row prisoners include serial killers Randy Kraft, also known as the “Southern California Strangler”; Charles Ng, who was convicted of killing 11 people in California in the 1980s; and Richard Allen Davis, who kidnapped and killed 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993.

‘A historic step’

The American Civil Liberties Union in a statement Thursday praised Newsom’s decision, saying it marks “a historic step towards ending the death penalty in California and across the country.”

“These commutations reflect what justice demands: an end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long,” said Anthony D. Romero, ACLU executive director. “By taking this step, Gov. Newsom has affirmed that the death penalty has no place in California and he showed real courage by confronting racialized injustice head-on.”

Other groups, including the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation, Crime Survivors and the California District Attorneys Association opposed the move, saying it would harm victims’ families and undermine the will of California and the court system.

“Our hearts break for every family feeling revictimized by this decision. You deserve to be heard, respected, and your loved ones will always be remembered,” Crime Survivors said in a statement.

Meanwhile, some victims’ families on Thursday expressed support for Newsom’s decision.

“I used to think the man who killed my sister deserved execution,” Jess Nichol, sister of Polly Klaas, who was killed in 1993, said in a statement. “But over time I’ve realized that whether he’s executed has absolutely nothing to do with my recovery or with real public safety.”

California has executed 13 people since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Only five people received death sentences in 2025, down from 42 in 1999. As of April of this year, 68% of people under a death sentence in California were defendants of color, according to the center.

Death penalty remains a divisive issue

Newsom’s announcement prompted a range of reactions from California prosecutors.

Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said that while commuting death sentences is within Newsom’s power, completely eliminating the death penalty is still in the voters’ hands.

“Californians have been asked on two separate ballot initiatives to abolish the death penalty and both times they have chosen to keep it for the most serious crimes,” Hochman said.

“Until the law is changed, my office will continue to evaluate every death penalty-eligible case with the rigor, care and restraint these decisions demand.”

Other prosecutors argued the death penalty wastes state resources while failing to fight crime or make residents safer.

“By commuting death sentences, Governor Newsom will save California taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars over the long term, and enable the state to continue its long-term investment into policies proven to improve public safety,” Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton said.

In recent years, governors in states like North Carolina, Oregon and Colorado have commuted death sentences for some or all inmates on death row. Most recently, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey granted clemency in March to a man on death row for three decades.

Rev. Jeff Hood, a death row spiritual advisor, said he hopes more states will follow Newsom’s lead.

“The silence after the very breath of a human being is violently wrestled out of them during an execution is deafening. I’ve heard it fourteen times,” he told CNN. “Today, Governor Newsom has courageously chosen to break that silence.”

This story has been updated with additional information.

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CNN’s Cheri Mossburg and Isabel Rosales contributed to this report.