In one of his final acts as California governor, Gavin Newsom has moved to spare every prisoner on the state’s death row.
Newsom announced Thursday that he would commute the sentences of all 548 people currently awaiting execution in California.
Under the plan, each sentence would be changed to life in prison without the possibility of parole, he said in an open letter to Californians.
The Democrat said the decision followed nearly three decades of openly opposing capital punishment, which he considers morally unacceptable.
Newsom acknowledged that those on death row had caused “indescribable suffering” to victims and their families. However, he said he had concluded that the state could not morally execute them.
“State-sanctioned killing is incompatible with California’s values, undermines the foundations of our legal system and diminishes each of us,” he wrote.
“I know we cannot execute people in our imperfect legal system and remain true to our core values, first among them justice and human decency.”
Despite Newsom’s announcement, questions remain over whether California law allows him to commute every sentence without further approval.
Gavin Newsom has moved to spare every prisoner on California’s death row in one of his final acts as governor
Newsom announced commutations for all 548 prisoners on California’s death row, changing their sentences to life without parole
The state constitution allows the governor to grant clemency and commute the sentence of an inmate convicted of only one felony without seeking additional approval.
However, the California Supreme Court must approve clemency for anyone convicted of more than one felony.
Based on figures released by Newsom’s office, the court would therefore need to approve 382 of Thursday’s proposed commutations — about 70 percent of the total.
Newsom said the decision was among the most difficult of his career because it would revive painful memories for families of murder victims.
“As Governor, I alone bear responsibility for this decision and its impact, just as I alone would bear responsibility for each execution,” he wrote.
Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman criticized the governor’s action.
In a statement, Hochman said that although the governor has the “constitutional power” to commute existing death sentences, that authority “does not extend to eliminating the death penalty.”
“Only the Legislature or the voters can do that,” Hochman said. “Californians have been asked on two separate ballot initiatives to abolish the death penalty and both times they have chosen to keep it for the most serious crimes.
“Until the law is changed, my office will continue to evaluate every death penalty-eligible case with the rigor, care and restraint these decisions demand. As always, we will be guided by the facts, the law and the evidence. If the Legislature or the voters remove the death penalty, we will follow that law just as faithfully.
“My thoughts today are with the families of victims, who deserve a justice system that honors the law as it is written and pursues it with fairness and due process.”
Newsom had considered the clemency plan for months, but reportedly intensified discussions with advisers after the botched execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee on September 30, according to Newsweek.
If the sweeping commutations proceed, some of California’s most notorious killers could avoid execution.
They include serial killer Charles Ng, who was sentenced to death in 1999 after being convicted of raping, torturing and murdering between 11 and 25 people in Calaveras County from 1983 to 1985.
Richard Allen Davis, 72, is on death row for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas
Former elementary school vice principal Vincent Brothers was sentenced to death in 2007 for killing his wife, three children and mother-in-law
Another serial killer on California’s death row is Wayne Adam Ford.
The 64-year-old former long-haul trucker and ex-U.S. Marine abducted, strangled, killed and dismembered four women — Tina Renee Gibbs, Patricia Ann Tamez, Lanett Deyon White and Kerry Ann Cummings — between 1997 and 1998.
Cary Stayner, known as the Yosemite Park Killer, was sentenced to death after being convicted of murdering four women near Yosemite National Park in 1999.
He could also benefit from Newsom’s order, even though the California Supreme Court rejected his death-penalty appeal earlier this year.
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Vincent Brothers, a former elementary school vice principal, received a death sentence in 2007 for killing his wife, three children and mother-in-law in July 2003.
Brothers shot his wife, Joanie, 39, and their children, Marques, four, Lyndsey, two, and Marshall, inside their Bakersfield home. He also killed Joanie’s 70-year-old mother, Earnestine Harper.
The killings were staged to resemble a botched burglary, while Brothers tried to create an alibi by flying to Ohio before the murders.
He later rented a car, drove to California and returned to Ohio afterward.
Charles Ng was sentenced to death in 1999 after being convicted of raping, torturing and murdering between 11 and 25 people in Calaveras County from 1983 to 1985
Cary Stayner, known as the Yosemite Park Killer, could be spared under Newsom’s order despite the California Supreme Court rejecting his death-penalty appeal earlier this year
Former long-haul trucker Wayne Adam Ford was convicted of murdering four women between 1997 and 1998
Richard Allen Davis, 72, remains on death row for the 1993 kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas.
Davis abducted the girl from her bedroom at knifepoint, strangled her and buried her in a shallow grave.
Joseph Naso, 92, known as the “Alphabet killer,” was sentenced to death in November 2013 for murdering four female prostitutes and dumping their bodies in rural parts of Northern California.
Naso, a father of two who worked as a photographer and coached a Little League team, was convicted of killing Roxene Roggasch, 18, in 1977; Carmen Colon, 22, in 1978; Pamela Parsons, 38, in 1993; and Tracy Tafoya, 31, in 1994.
He strangled the women, photographed their posed bodies and, in some cases, had sex with their corpses.
Investigators found a disturbing “list of 10” at Naso’s remote home in Reno, Nevada, which was believed to identify his victims.
But Naso allegedly told a fellow inmate at San Quentin State Prison last year that the list did not represent his only 10 victims, but rather his “top 10” most brutal killings.
“Alphabet killer” Joseph Naso, 92, was sentenced to death in November 2023 for murdering four women whose bodies were dumped in rural areas of Northern California
“Yacht killer” Skylar Deleon, 47, was sentenced to death in 2009 for killing Thomas and Jackie Hawks. Deleon, born John Jacobson Jr., underwent gender-affirming surgery funded by taxpayers while on death row. She is pictured before, left, and after the surgery, right
The proposed commutation could also affect “yacht killer” Skylar Deleon, who underwent gender-affirming surgery funded by taxpayers while on death row.
Deleon, a former child actor, began transitioning behind bars after receiving a death sentence in 2009 for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks.
Born John Jacobson Jr., Deleon overpowered the couple aboard their 55-foot yacht in 2004, tied them to the vessel’s anchor and threw them overboard.
Prosecutors said during the trial that Deleon killed the couple to finance a gender transition, forcing them to sign over their assets before their deaths.
California began covering the cost of Deleon’s surgery in April 2023.
California executions are carried out at San Quentin State Prison
Newsom’s clemency announcement comes as he prepares to leave office after eight years. He imposed a moratorium on executions in 2019, but hundreds of prisoners remained on death row.
California voters rejected a 2016 ballot measure that would have abolished the state’s death penalty.
Newsom has previously said it is wrong for the government to kill its citizens and argued that capital punishment has been applied disproportionately to people with mental illness and people of color.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which has argued that the death penalty reflects racial bias, welcomed the announcement.
“These commutations reflect what justice demands: An end to a racist, error-prone, and inhumane punishment that has burdened California for far too long,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero said in a statement.
The ACLU is also pursuing a legal challenge to California’s death-penalty statute, alleging that it is racially discriminatory and unconstitutional.
