California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on November 5, 2026, that he will commute the death sentences of all 548 inmates currently on the state’s death row, converting their punishments to life in prison without the possibility of parole in the largest mass clemency action in U.S. history.
Governor Newsom Commutes 548 Death Sentences
I firmly believe that state-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system, and diminishes each of us,
Newsom wrote in a three-page open letter addressed to all Californians, explaining that his decision stems from a long and deeply held moral opposition to capital punishment.
Newsom Commutes the Sentences of California’s 548 Death Row Inmates https://t.co/fpcOrb07Tk via @NYTimes
The executive action impacts 529 men and 19 women who make up the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere, according to figures from his office reported by KSL News. Gov. Gavin Newsom detailed his rationale across the written address.
Under the California Constitution, the governor’s power to grant clemency is subject to specific limitations. While Newsom can unilaterally reduce roughly 40 percent of the sentences, approximately 382 cases involve prisoners with more than one felony conviction on their record, requiring formal review and approval from the California Supreme Court before the end of January, as NBC News detailed. Newsom asked the high court to issue its recommendation before his term ends.
BREAKING: Gov. Gavin Newsom says he plans to change all death sentences in California to Life Without Parole. He penned this open letter to the public about the decision. “I am compelled to follow my conscience and… take this action for the welfare of the state California.” pic.twitter.com/9sgEVRpNOX
Victims and Prosecutors Condemn the Governor Order
It’s unbelievably disappointing,
Klaas told NBC News, describing the move as a knife in the back
to families who trusted the legal system.
Marc Klaas, whose 12-year-old daughter Polly was kidnapped and murdered by Richard Allen Davis in 1993, called the governor’s action a betrayal as it immediately drew fierce backlash from victims’ relatives and district attorneys across the state. David Carpenter, known as the Trailside Killer for murdering six women and one man in Marin and Santa Cruz counties, is among the prominent convicts spared execution under the order.
In one of his last acts as governor, Newsom commutes the sentences of all 548 death row inmates in California, calling capital punishment morally objectionable. That’s about a quarter of death sentences nationwide. @LaurelRosenhall https://t.co/c1IDImRjDp
Local prosecutors echoed those concerns. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp called the decision deeply troubling, noting that it dismisses the will of voters who repeatedly upheld capital punishment at the ballot box, according to ABC30 Fresno. San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow criticized the timing and scope, stating that Governor Newsom made the sweeping decision without giving victims’ families or prosecutors an opportunity to weigh in. Jeannine M. Pacioni, serving as immediate past president of the California District Attorneys Association, called the directive a sickening abuse of power.
Among the cases highlighted by prosecutors, San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow referenced Rachel Newhouse and Aundria Crawford, two women who were kidnapped, raped, and murdered in 1999 by Rex Allan Krebs, a career violent felon on parole, alongside Kesha Gurke, a 19-month-old girl tortured and murdered in 1995 by Michael Whisenhunt. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp and former Fresno County prosecutor James Ardaiz pointed to the 1980 murders at Fran’s Market, where Hamilton killed three employees: 27-year-old Bryon Schletewitz, 17-year-old Josephine Rocha, and 18-year-old Douglas White. Ardaiz called that perpetrator an absolute evil individual.
Civil Rights Advocates and Legal Experts Support the Move
California’s death penalty is rife with racial discrimination,
Abdi Soltani, executive director of the ACLU of Northern California, pointed out.
Criminal justice reform organizations and supporting district attorneys praised the governor’s action in contrast to the backlash. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen supported the decision, noting that California’s death penalty system is broken and plagued by arbitrary biases, as reported by The Mercury News. Soltani commended the step.
This is an appalling disregard of victims’ lives and what their families and friends went through. In California, criminals > victims. https://t.co/klh5iCjMHh
Robin Maher, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, noted the historic nature of the decision. Though other governors have granted universal clemencies, none have been at this scale,
Maher stated. Natasha Minsker of the California Anti-Death Penalty Coalition also supported the action, stating that recent events have stripped the veneer off capital punishment in the country. Amnesty International USA Executive Director Nadia Daar stated that the day will be remembered in California history and resonate globally.
Historical Context of California Capital Punishment
California has not executed an inmate since January 17, 2006, when Clarence Ray Allen received a lethal injection at San Quentin State Prison, as documented by NBC News. Although voters reaffirmed their support for capital punishment by defeating a repeal ballot initiative in 2016, Gov. Gavin Newsom instituted a moratorium on executions shortly after taking office in 2019.
Legal experts consulted by the Los Angeles Times observe that resuming executions in the state would require years of work and millions of dollars to rebuild death chambers and establish workable lethal injection protocols. With the state Supreme Court now tasked with reviewing the bulk of the commutations before January, the governor’s order leaves Allen’s 2006 execution as the final one carried out in modern California history, according to ABC30 Fresno. Resuming executions would require years of work and millions of dollars to rebuild death chambers and establish workable lethal injection protocols,
legal experts consulted by the Los Angeles Times observed.