Gavin Newsom commutes sentences of all death row inmates in California

There are currently 548 people on death row in California. Newsom has long opposed the death penalty and issued a moratorium on executions in 2019.

Legal Process

The governor can commute about 40% of the death sentences with the stroke of his pen, but the remaining cases will require approval from the state's high court to be finalized.

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.