Newsom commutes all 548 California death sentences, spurring calls for more clemency
Summary
- California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted all 548 of the state's death sentences to life imprisonment without parole.
- California has carried out no execution in 20 years, and a 2024 lawsuit argues Black and Latino defendants face far higher death sentencing rates.
- Bryan Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, called the move an act of moral leadership and urged other governors to commute death sentences.
- Support for the death penalty fell below 50 percent in a Gallup poll for the first time in more than 50 years.
Reactions
- Bryan Stevenson called Newsom's commutation a remarkable act of moral leadership and a demonstration of justice and mercy.
- Stevenson recommended Kansas Governor Laura Kelly and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine commute death sentences before their terms end.
- Stevenson urged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee to act before January, and Christa Pike's attorneys asked Lee to commute her death sentence.
- Stevenson said many law enforcement officials and survivors of victims have expressed anger about the commutations.
- Stevenson forecast that Newsom's decision would encourage other elected officials to be more active guardians of justice.
Timeline newest first
Gavin Newsom commuted all 548 of California's death sentences to life imprisonment without parole in the week before November 13, 2026.
Sources newest first
- Opinion | Gavin Newsom Just Did Something Incredibly Important
In a New York Times opinion column, Bryan Stevenson, a public interest lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, calls Gavin Newsom's commutation of all 548 of California's death sentences to life without parole a remarkable act of moral leadership. Stevenson argues the death penalty is a failure marked by wrongful convictions and racial bias, and urges Laura Kelly, Mike DeWine, and Bill Lee to commute death sentences before leaving office.
