Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted all death sentences in California on Thursday, declaring that “state-sanctioned murder is inconsistent with” the values of America’s most populous state.
In an open letter to voters, Newsom said taking this step was “one of the most difficult of my career.”
“I am taking this action because I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killings are inconsistent with California’s values,” he said.
California has not executed a prisoner since January 17, 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen was executed by lethal injection.
Newsom said his executive action will impact the “548 people currently on death row in California,” making it “the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.”
As of Tuesday, according to Department of Corrections records, 561 inmates were on death row.
Former California death row inmates include Richard Allen Davis, convicted of the murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993.
Klaas was kidnapped at knifepoint from her home in Petaluma, north of San Francisco, during a sleepover. The case gained national attention after sparking a massive search that eventually led investigators to Davis, who then directed police to the girl’s body in a shallow grave.
Marc Klaas, Polly’s father, said Newsom’s decision is a “stab in the back” to him and other victims’ families who believe those on death row were legally convicted.
“It’s incredibly disappointing,” Klaas told NBC News. “I was told that when this man was sentenced to death, it was a system we could trust. But here we are, 33 years later, and it’s a system we can’t trust.”
Newsom’s action was embraced by death penalty abolitionists, human rights advocates and religious communities.
“This is a day that will be remembered in California history and will have global resonance for years to come,” Nadia Daar, executive director of Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.
“The death penalty must be abolished everywhere. Today marks an important moment for human rights in California and across the country,” Daar said.
Since the United States Supreme Court ended a brief hiatus in capital punishment with its landmark 1976 decision in Gregg v. Georgia, 1,687 state executions took place, according to Death Penalty Information Center records.
Texas carried out the most executions during this period, with 603, while California carried out death sentences only 13 times.
“Governor Newsom’s announcement marks a watershed moment in the history of the death penalty in the United States,” Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, said in a statement. “Although other governors have granted universal pardons, none have been of this magnitude.”
Newsom’s decree, for most of those on death row, would still need approval from the California Supreme Court.
Newsom is frequently mentioned as a possible 2028 presidential candidate, and the timing of this announcement is not lost on Klaas.
“We’re talking about serial killers, we’re talking about spree killers, we’re talking about cop killers, we’re talking about child killers,” Klaas said. “Why, two days after the midterms, does Gavin Newsom feel the need to commute these sentences? Who benefits from this?”
In a statement, the California District Attorneys Association condemned Newsom’s decision, saying the governor replaced individual sentencing decisions issued after lengthy court proceedings “with a single executive decision that makes no distinction between the crimes committed, the circumstances of the offenders or the victims whose lives were taken.”
“With the stroke of a pen, Governor Newsom ignored the decisions of hundreds of juries and judges, as well as the anguish of families who have lost loved ones to the worst crimes imaginable,” said Monterey County District Attorney and Association President Jeannine M. Pacioni.
San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow said Newsom’s action was an affront to the families of the victims, whose killers were brought to justice by his office.
“Governor Newsom just told the families of Rachel Newhouse, Aundria Crawford, Kesha Gurke and all the other innocent victims of California’s 548 convicted killers that the lives of killers matter more,” Dow said in a statement as outgoing president of the California District Attorneys Association.
“Juries chose case-by-case justice, voters chose it five times, and an outgoing governor is trying to erase it all with a pen. It’s a sickening abuse of power.”
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