Gavin Newsom commutes sentences for all 548 California death-row inmates

newsNov 6, 202658188

Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row, converting those sentences to life without the possibility of parole. The commutations affect 529 men and 19 women and, Newsom said, ensure they can never be executed under future administrations. Newsom called state-sanctioned killing incompatible with California’s values and noted he imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019 and dismantled the San Quentin execution chamber, relocating condemned people to facilities with more freedom and programming. The governor’s office said 220 of the 548 people had waited 15 years or more for appointed habeas counsel and 139 had waited 20 years or more; 45 people have exhausted their appeals and would be immediately subject to execution without the moratorium. The California Supreme Court must review and approve clemency grants for cases involving multiple felony convictions. The move, praised by the ACLU, Martin Luther King III, and lawyer Bryan Stevenson, was also supported by Jeanne Woodford, a former California prisons director who cited more than 200 nationwide exonerations of people once sentenced to death. If the court approves the grants, California’s nation-leading death row would be emptied and those 548 people would remain in prison for life without parole.

Mother Jones

@motherjones.com

California has not executed anyone since Arnold Schwarzenegger was governor. Now, Newsom plans to empty what is still the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere.

1132h ago

Sit Down Comedian9

In other news, human does something unexpectedly humanitarian.

blasingsun-2.bsky.social3

Thank you, Governor Newsom 🙏🏼

ctrl+alt+RESIST1

Twenty years without an execution. That row stopped being a death sentence a long time ago. It became a warehouse where people die waiting for a date the state never sets. Newsom is just putting it in writing.

Lucy Fayre1

Hopefully , removing the stress of waiting for an execution date will make the management of the death row inmates safer for the staff?

Quoting this

Cezary Jan Strusiewicz6

Still don't like the guy but this was the right thing to do.

Esther

@dungeonminister.bsky.social

lmao at gavin newsom immediately becoming a leftist again. man is so transparent. if y’all let him become president i’m going to beef with the world

146h ago

mcc

@dryad.technology

Sincerely struggling to decide if this would be better or worse than Gavin Newsom. Like I feel like mostly better but in some tiny fatal ways worse

154h ago

Sarah Szalavitz💡

@dearsarah.bsky.social

👏Newsom Commutes the Sentences of California’s 548 Death Row Inmates www.nytimes.com/2026/11/05/u... #ProudCalifornian

75h ago

scarletbegonia

@scarletbegonia67.bsky.social

Governor Newsom commutes ALL 548 death penalty sentences to LWOP. Thank you, Governor Newsom! @governor.ca.gov deathpenalty.org/governor-new...

510h ago

Navy Man (descendant of ANTIFA since the revolution)

@navymanhy.bsky.social

Very compassionate, but his chances of being president are zero. Of course Trump will posts about Newsom sparing criminals, but don't let Trump forget his mass pardon of January 6th criminals.

69h ago

kc kc kc

@katecrane.bsky.social

gavin newsom can commute all the death sentences but bluesky won't reinstate the users it banned through thin-skinned vindictiveness and various -isms and -phobias

66h ago

Desiree 🏳️‍⚧️

@itsyagirldes.bsky.social

This is why I will never vote for Gavin Newsom. It sucks girl

47h ago

M@GA Don’t Surf 🌊 🏄 #Resistor

@spacemonkeygleek.bsky.social

Done with this moral stain on our nation. End the death penalty -- commute the sentences like Gov Gavin Newsom.

16h ago

to wound the autumnal kitty

@blurry-line.bsky.social

I still don’t trust Newsom but this is pretty remarkable www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

39h ago

NBC Bay Area

@nbcbayarea.com

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday that he’ll change more than 500 death sentences in the state to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The decision comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years and considers a run for president. nbcbay.com/sFCNhJ2

2h ago

McNutcase

@mcnutcase.bsky.social

I can't help but wonder what Gavin Newsom would've announced today if the Republicans hadn't eaten shit.

21h ago

calliesue.bsky.social

@calliesue.bsky.social

Gov. Gavin Newsom moves to spare lives of all 548 prisoners on California's death row The outgoing governor said he has started the process to change the sentences to life in prison without the possibility of parole. If successful, the commutation would empty the nation’s largest death row. *Good!!

26h ago

Hairball 😡🙄😡🙄🌊✊

@hairball-redux.bsky.social

I didn't think California had the death penalty. I know it's just on the books and isn't used, but I'm surprised it hasn't been abolished there, of all places. www.bbc.com/news/article...

28h ago

Alex Globetrotter #FBPE #ProEU

@alexliberto.bsky.social

Gavin Newsom has commuted the death sentences of all 548 inmates on the state's death row, converting them to life in prison without the possibility of parole. This is humanity. This is true punishment and social responsibility that safeguards law abiding citizens. We are not murderers.

13h ago

3 sources

theguardian.comGavin Newsom commutes more than 500 death sentences in California nytimes.comNewsom Commutes the Sentences of California’s 548 Death Row Inmates motherjones.comGavin Newsom has commuted the largest death row in the Western Hemisphere

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Gavin Newsom commutes sentences for all 548 California death-row inmates

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