Gavin Newsom is changing the sentences of all death row prisoners to life without parole, according to BBC News and other outlets.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on the state's death row to life in prison without the possibility of parole, according to reports by BBC News, India Today and Al Jazeera.
In a three-page letter, Newsom stated that he is exercising his constitutional clemency authority because he believes state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California's values. He described the decision as a righteous action, noting that the state's death penalty system is a failure that has not been applied fairly.
The move effectively clears out the death row of the state, which has the largest population of such inmates in the Western Hemisphere. California has not carried out an execution since 2006, and only 13 inmates have been executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1978.
The decision comes as Newsom, a Democrat, approaches the end of his final term and is discussed as a potential 2028 presidential contender. Anthony D Romero, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the commutations reflect a demand for justice and an end to an inhumane punishment.
Los Angeles County top prosecutor Anthony Hochman said that while the Governor has the power to commute sentences, only the state legislature or voters can abolish the death penalty. He noted that voters have previously chosen to keep the practice for serious crimes.
Under state law, at least four of the seven judges on the California Supreme Court must sign off on the commutations for those with multiple felony convictions before they become final.
