California Governor Newsom Commutes Sentences of 548 Death Row Inmates

California Governor Gavin Newsom will commute the sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row, in what is described as the largest mass clemency in US history. Those affected will instead serve life without the possibility of parole, shrinking the nation's death row population by nearly thirty percent overall.

In an open letter, Newsom said state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values. The state has not carried out an execution in twenty years and, since 1978, has spent about six billion dollars on capital punishment while performing just thirteen executions, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which tracks the issue.

About two-thirds of the commutations still need California Supreme Court review before becoming final. The move arrives as the Trump administration has pledged to expand federal executions, even by firing squad. Newsom leaves office in January, with Xavier Becerra due to succeed him on January 4, so the decision lands in his final weeks.