What Gavin Newsom's commutations mean for the death penalty in the U.S.CalMatters, with The Marshall Project, examines what Gov. Gavin Newsom's move to commute the death sentences of all 548 people on California's death row means for capital punishment nationwide. The California Supreme Court must still approve commutations for more than half the group, and critics including Marc Klaas denounce the decision while Jess Nichol, sister of victim Polly Klaas's killer's victim family, supports it.