Newsom moves to empty California's death row as 2028 looms

Gov. Gavin Newsom is proposing to replace every one of California's 548 death sentences with life imprisonment without parole. That means the prisoners would remain incarcerated for life instead of facing execution. The plan matters because California has the nation's largest death row, and carrying it out would be the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history.

Newsom says the decision reflects his belief that California cannot morally kill people within an imperfect legal system. He acknowledged that many Californians believe people who commit brutal crimes deserve death. He also said the state can honor victims while allowing offenders to die in prison.

The plan is not automatically complete. Newsom can commute some sentences himself, but prisoners with multiple felony convictions require California Supreme Court approval. The death penalty would remain legal in California, even though the state has not executed anyone since 2006.

To commute a death sentence means to reduce or change the punishment imposed by a court. In this case, Newsom proposes changing execution sentences to life without parole. The prisoners would still face permanent imprisonment, but the state would no longer be authorized to execute them.

The key difference is the punishment's final form. Execution would be replaced by a sentence requiring prisoners to spend the rest of their lives in prison without parole eligibility. This is not an acquittal, a pardon, or freedom. The underlying convictions and lengthy imprisonment would remain.

Newsom says the change is necessary because he does not believe California can morally kill people in an imperfect legal system. If completed, the commutations would affect all 548 death sentences announced in the proposal. Some cases would also require approval from the California Supreme Court because of prisoners' multiple felony convictions.

Newsom's proposal covers all 548 prisoners currently serving death sentences in California. That figure makes California home to the nation's largest death row. The scale is especially significant because the proposed commutations would reduce the entire U.S. death-row population by more than one-quarter.

The article describes the plan as the largest mass commutation of death sentences in U.S. history. It does not provide the exact national number of people on death row. Instead, it gives the comparison that removing California's 548 prisoners would cut the national population by more than 25 percent.

The proposal would therefore have effects well beyond California. It could sharply reduce the number of people facing execution nationwide, while leaving capital punishment legally available in California. The plan also requires additional legal steps for prisoners with multiple felony convictions, so the final outcome depends partly on court approval.

After a death sentence is commuted, the prisoner would no longer be scheduled for execution under that sentence. The replacement punishment would be life without parole. In practical terms, the prisoner would remain imprisoned for life and could not seek release through parole.

That change preserves a severe punishment while removing the state's power to carry out an execution. Newsom described the decision as a way to prevent the state from killing prisoners while still allowing them to die in prison. He also said victims would continue to be remembered and honored.

The punishment does not erase the prisoner's conviction or make the person eligible for freedom. It changes the sentence imposed after conviction. Newsom wants this outcome for all 548 California death-row prisoners, but some commutations require California Supreme Court approval because certain prisoners have multiple felony convictions.

The legal obstacle concerns the prisoners' criminal records. Newsom can commute some death sentences using his executive authority. But the California Constitution requires approval from the California Supreme Court when a prisoner has multiple felony convictions.

That rule creates a two-part process. Newsom may make the proposal and directly commute sentences covered by his authority. For prisoners whose records include multiple felony convictions, the state Supreme Court must approve reducing the death sentence to life without parole. The court's involvement is therefore based on the constitutional rule and the structure of the conviction record.

This means the announcement does not instantly change every sentence. Newsom's plan covers all 548 death-row prisoners, but the final commutations depend on which cases he can handle alone and which require judicial approval. The death penalty also remains legal in California, so this proposal changes these sentences rather than abolishing capital punishment statewide.

California's use of executions stopped under Newsom's administration. Shortly after taking office, he instituted a moratorium on executions. He also reprieved 737 prisoners from death row, meaning executions were put on hold for those prisoners while their death sentences remained in place.

The state's last execution occurred in 2006. The article notes that California has not carried out another execution since then. Newsom's moratorium therefore continued a long period without executions, but it did not remove the death penalty from state law.

His new proposal would go further by commuting all 548 current death sentences to life without parole. That would change the prisoners' sentences, not simply pause executions. Still, California voters rejected ballot measures to end capital punishment in 2012 and 2016, and the death penalty remains legally available.

A state can stop carrying out executions without eliminating the legal death penalty. That is California's current situation. Newsom imposed a moratorium shortly after taking office, and the state has not performed an execution since 2006. Those actions halted executions but did not repeal capital punishment.

The article also points to California voters. They rejected ballot measures to end the death penalty in both 2012 and 2016. Because those efforts failed, capital punishment remains legal even though no execution has occurred for years. Newsom's proposed commutations would change existing death sentences, not automatically remove the death penalty from state law.

If Newsom follows through, all 548 death sentences could become life-without-parole sentences. Yet future cases could still receive death sentences while the punishment remains legal. Some current commutations also require California Supreme Court approval because certain prisoners have multiple felony convictions.